ABEOKUTA – The Ogun State High Court sitting in Ota on Tuesday nullified the installation of the Oniro of Iro, Oba Najeem Aromaye, and ordered him to vacate the palace, bringing an end to a 13-year legal battle over the traditional stool.
Delivering judgment in Suit No: AB/292/2013, Justice O.O. Osunfisan held that the nomination, appointment and installation of Aromaye were unlawful, illegal and contrary to the approved chieftaincy declaration regulating succession to the Oniro throne.
The court consequently set aside his appointment and awarded ₦1million cost against the defendants.
The suit was filed by late Prince Adeleke Joseph Oniyide Adebari and Prince Kamoru Akindele Adebari on behalf of members of the Oleyo Ruling House of Iro Township.
They argued that Aromaye neither belonged to the Oleyo Ruling House nor to any of the three recognised ruling houses entitled to produce candidates for the stool.
Iro Township recognises three ruling houses: Oleyo, Apetu-Mata and Eribi which are to produce monarchs on a rotational basis.
Following the death of the last monarch from the Eribi Ruling House in 2012, it became the turn of Oleyo to present a candidate.
However, the family reportedly declined due to the absence of a qualified nominee and later ceded its turn to the Apetu-Mata Ruling House.
Despite this, the Iro Council of Chiefs allegedly presented Aromaye as a candidate from Oleyo, leading to protests and petitions from the family.
Justice Osunfisan ruled that due process under the Oniro of Iro Chieftaincy Declaration of 1965 and the Chiefs Law of Ogun State was breached.
He restrained Aromaye permanently from parading himself as Oniro and barred authorities from recognising him as monarch.
