The Olushi Onigbesa Royal Family of Oshodi has asked an Ikeja High Court to declare it entitled to produce the Oba of Oshodi.
Yaya Oseni-Agedegudu and Kabiru Eeyantan instituted the suit, No. ID/1457GCMW/2026, on behalf of the Onigbesa royal family.
They filed the suit through their counsel, Omoniyi Akinmola.
The claimants are also seeking an order restraining the respondents, including the Lagos State Government, its agencies and rival Oshodi Tapa and Arota families, from recognising or installing another person as the traditional ruler.
According to the claimants’ counsel, the dispute revolves around the recommendation of a standing tribunal of inquiry into chieftaincy matters.
He said the state government constituted the tribunal to determine whether the Baaleship of Oshodi should be upgraded to an Obaship.
Akinmola said the tribunal, chaired by Justice A.O. Silva (rtd.), commenced sitting on June 1, 2005, and completed its proceedings before submitting its findings to the Lagos State Government in 2012.
He said the tribunal recommended the Onigbesa royal family as the family entitled to produce the Oba of Oshodi.
The lawyer said attempts by rival families to overturn the recommendation had failed before the courts.
He said the Oshodi Arota Ologun family first challenged the recommendation at the high court, which dismissed the case in a judgment delivered on Sept. 24, 2014.
“The family appealed, but the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on March 25, 2020, with costs.
“The Supreme Court subsequently dismissed its appeal on July 13, 2021, also with costs,” he said.
The claimants’ lawyer further cited other suits involving the Oshodi Tapa and Oshodi Ologun families, which he said the high court struck out.
He said the successive decisions did not invalidate the tribunal’s recommendation.
The claimants alleged, however, that the state government changed its position after commencing administrative steps to implement the recommendation.
Akinmola challenged a letter dated October 20, 2022, which the then Lagos State Attorney-General wrote recognising the Oshodi and Arota families as entitled to produce the Oba of Oshodi.
The lawyer alleged that the attorney general’s position resulted from a misunderstanding and misinterpretation of earlier judgments concerning a 206-acre parcel of land in Oshodi.
He maintained that the earlier judgments dealt only with ownership of the 206 acres and did not determine traditional rulership of the wider Olushi Onigbesa territory.
He also said the government had earlier treated the family as entitled to produce the Oba.
According to him, following the tribunal’s recommendation, the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs notified the Agedegudu Ruling House in August 2012 that it was its turn to present a candidate.
He further said the Joint Chieftaincy Committee of Oshodi/Isolo Local Government approved the nomination at its meeting on June 9, 2021.
The Oshodi Tapa Chieftaincy Family, in its defence, urged the court to dismiss the suit.
The family described the claim as frivolous and an attempt to circumvent earlier judgments concerning ownership of Oshodi land.
