CHRSJ Petitions Buhari, CJN, AGF Over 1995 Supreme Court Judgement On Ora-Igbomina

A Human Rights organization, the Center for Human Rights and Social Justice, CHRSJ, has petitioned the President, Muhammadu Buhari, Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Muhammed Tanko, Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami(SAN) over the non-implementation of the September 1st, 1995 Supreme Court Judgement on Ora-Igbomina Obaship tussle.

They are calling on the Federal Government to take appropriate actions on the
implementation of the Supreme Court Judgement in Osun State in order to
avoid laying bad precedent in the nation’s legal jurisprudence.

Justice Abubakar Wali gave the lead judgement of Apex Court on the
Chieftaincy matter where it declared that Akesin should not be recognized
as Oba and not to talk of wearing beaded crown under the Chiefs Law of Osun
State in 1995, adding that the Supreme Court also awarded cost of N1,000
against “Akesin Ora” for wasting the precious time of the Supreme
Court by bringing frivolous application before the Apex Court of the
land and “Akesin” was yet to obey the order of the Supreme Court which
was tantamount to the contempt of the Court.

The group insisted that the current bearer of “Akesin”, Mr. Samuel Idowu
Oladoye, was not known to any law of the land as a monarch because he was just
an impostor and law breaker as ordered by the Supreme Court of Nigeria on
September 1,1995.

In a petition dated February 8th, 2020 and signed by its Executive
Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman, which was forwarded to
President Buhari, CJN and AGF and copies were made available to newsmen on
Thursday, the group called for urgent intervention of the appropriate authorities on
the matter.

The petition was attached with the Compact Disk of V.O.A. Aboderin
Commission of Inquiry day to day proceedings, the Supreme Court Judgement
of 1st September,1995, Osun State High Court Judgement of 21st day of
March, 2000, which ordered the State Government to implement the Supreme Court
Judgement and August 29, 2003, White paper (Gazette) by the then Governor,
Olagunsoye Oyinlola, in pursant to the Supreme Court Judgement, repealing
the wearing of beaded crown by the Akesin of Ora with effect from 1st of
September,1995 as Exhibit” A,B,C, & D” respectively.

Part of the Petition read thus: “Shortly before the handing over of power
to the civilian government in 1979 in Oyo State (now Osun State), the then
Military Governor, Col. Paul Tarfa, discretionally granted wearing of beaded
crown to Isaiah Olanipekun as Akesin of Ora, making him another Oba when in
actual fact a full-time fledged and crowned Oba, Asaoni of Ora, was in
place. The situation then led to riot and unrest in the ancient town”.

“On the arrival of Late Chief Bola Ige’s Government, a Judicial Commission
of Inquiry headed by Late Justice V.O.A. Aboderin was set up to investigate
the matter. The report of the inquiry was made known to the public
declaring the wearing of beaded crown by the Akesin of Ora as illegal and
negated the old traditional norms.”

“Akesin challenged the then Oyo (Osun) State Government at the High
Court. The matter went to Ibadan Court of Appeal and ultimately ended at the
Supreme Court. The Supreme Court delivered its judgement in favour of Asaoni
on the 1st day of September,1995, thereby upholding the Report of Aboderin
Judicial Commission of Inquiry which declared Asaoni as the only recognized
and beaded crown Oba of Ora-Igbomina kingdom.”

The petition further read: “The Constitution is Supreme, not only when
another law seeks to compete with it in an area already covered by the
Constitution.The Governor of Osun State or any Government at all is not
given power to do a thing or act that is inconsistent with and violently in
contradiction to the express words of the Constitution”.

“The law is settled that the parties as well as the Court are bound by the
provision of the Constitution. The law is that when an act is void, it is
void altogether and nothing can be placed on it. Thus, the continuous stay
of the deposed “Akesin of Ora-Igbomina as he then was, is not only an affront
against the Supremacy of the Supreme Court itself for almost 25 years now
but also against the Section 235 & 287 of the 1999 Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).”

Comrade Sulaiman restated that the development has stemmed and assumed a
monstrous propensity to the tide of progress, peace, growth and development
of Ora-Igbomina Kingdom.

“It is our belief that the law of might cannot over rule the rule of
law. We have reached a point where we need to call a spade a spade by
standing up for what is right even if we are standing alone as postulated
by late Social crusader, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN). We would not allow
any person or group of individuals to bring our society back to the dark
days of military tyranny where judiciary was nothing but mere organ of
Government”, CHRSJ Chief submitted.