There are strong indications that the installation of a new Soun of Ogbomoso may not be feasible in a short period. This is because three wrongly excluded ruling houses confirmed as true royal clans of Ogbomoso by a court of competent jurisdiction have insisted on their inclusion.
REPORTERS AT LARGE recalls that the 27th Soun, Oba Jimoh Oladunni Oyewumi, Ajagungbade III died December 12, 2021, at the age of 95.
Apart from the present five ruling houses: Gbagun, Laoye, Bolanta, Odunaro and Aburumaku, the excluded ruling houses – Oluopo, Ologolo and Olukan are also direct descendants of the first Soun, Ogunlola, just as the first-mentioned five.
Aggrieved by their age-long exclusion from the ascension line, their clamour for inclusion in modern times dates back to March 1, 1940.
Having succeeded in recent times, the three families were included as ruling houses in an amended declaration with gazette no. 27 vol. 26 on July 16, 2001.
However, the 2001 amended declaration was later abrogated in 2004 with no. 16 vol. 29 of September 2004 (with no reason given, and without being afforded fair hearing).
In a judgement delivered by Justice O. A Boade on August 6, 2007, the claimants’ families (Oluopo, Ologolo and Olukan) have been confirmed as royal families/direct descendants of past Souns of Ogbomoso, particularly the first Soun, Ogunlola.
In the latest legal tussle on this issue, Hon. Justice M. L. Owolabi of Oyo State High Court, Ogbomoso Division, in a considered judgement delivered on 9th March 2022, dismissed all the grounds of the preliminary objection of the current five ruling houses except for the fact that in the Court’s view, the said three royal houses did not come to court on time.
One of the claimants speaking on behalf of the three families, Prince Ibrahim Najeem Olusubu of Oluopo ruling house, said: “I, as a prince, want peace and tranquillity to reign supreme in our dearly beloved Ogbomoso. I will not allow arbitrariness of men and impunity of a few to prevail over natural justice, equity and good conscience.
“Nothing can change the natural fact that we are princes just as current five ruling houses, not a custom, not a legal technicality. We have lodged an appeal against the judgment to the Court of Appeal at Ibadan.
“We equally have a pending application for injunction pending appeal. We have confidence in the present government of Oyo State that it will give due regard to judicial process and we believe that justice will prevail.”
