Date: 2018-07-30

High Court sitting in Ilorin on Friday dismissed the preliminary objection filed by the Kwara State Government and the embattled appointed Onigbin of Oke – Onigbin, Kamaldeen Salahudeen, in a case filed by members of the Odo-Oja Ruling House of Oke –Onigbin.

The aggrieved ruling family had approached the court to unseat the appointed monarch for being an appointment made in contravention of the custom and tradition of Oke – Onigbin.

The family through its lead Counsels, Barrister Tosin Samuel Alawode and Ademola Olanrewaju, had earlier filed a suit challenging the appointment which was struck out by both the High Court and the Court of Appeal on the ground that at the time the suit was filed, there was no appointment made by the Government in respect of the Chieftaincy Stool.

It was however gathered that a day after the earlier judgment of the High Court, the Government of Kwara State appointed Mr. Kamaldeen Salahudeen as Onigbin of Oke - Onigbin and through out the appeal, the fact was concealed from the Court of Appeal.

After becoming aware of the appointment of Mr. Kamaldeen Salahudeen as Onigbin of Oke - Onigbin, the same Odo - Oja Ruling House, through their legal team filed a fresh suit challenging the appointment on grounds which included fraud, deceit and connivance by the Government of Kwara State and the Kingmakers of Oke - Onigbin, amongst the ground that the said Mr. Kamaldeen Salahudeen do not come from a recognised Ruling House in Oke - Onigbin.

On filing the new case, both the Government of Kwara State and the embattled appointed Oba filed Preliminary Objections claiming that the case is premature, statute barred and an abuse of Court process.

In his ruling, Justice T. S Umar, overruled the preliminary objections stating that a case cannot be premature and at the same time be statute barred.

He further held that "since what was determined in the earlier case did not touch on the subject matter of the dispute but on the failure of the Claimant to comply with the law, the Claimants are right to have taken the hint of the Courts, complied with the law and filed this present case."

It would be recalled that the Odo-Oja ruling house had instituted an action to challenge the appointment of Mr. Kamaldeen Salahudeen as the Onigbin of Oke Onigbin vide a Writ of Summons issued on the 6th of July, 2017 wherein the case assigned to Hon. Justice A. A. Adebara sitting at Offa.

Barrister Alawode further stated that, "They sued the appointed Oba, two of the Kingmakers and the Governor of Kwara State as Defendants in the matter. The appointed Oba and the two kingmakers filed a notice of preliminary objection challenging the competence of the suit which was argued on 23rd of October, 2017 and Hon. Justice A. A. Adebara, reserved his decision to a date to be communicated to the parties."

According to the motion on notice dated 5th march 2018, Barrister Alawode maintained that, "When there was no information from the Court on when the decision would be delivered after about four months from the date parties argued the objection, our team discovered with shock on Friday March 2, 2018, that the matter had been withdrawn from Hon. Justice A.A Adebara since December, 2017 and transferred to another Judge, Justice Umar by the order of the Chief Judge of Kwara State.