The Supreme Court of Nigeria, sitting in Abuja, has been asked to restrain the Oyo State Government from creating, recognising or elevating the chieftaincy stool of Baale Ago-Oja, pending the determination of an appeal before it.
In a motion on notice dated January 30, 2026, and filed in Appeal No. SC/404/2018, the Alaafin of Oyo is seeking orders of interlocutory and mandatory injunctions against the Governor of Oyo State and the Attorney-General of Oyo State.
The motion, brought pursuant to Order 2 Rule 28(1) of the Supreme Court Rules, 2014 (as amended), and the inherent powers of the court under Section 6(6)(b) of the 1999 Constitution, seeks to halt all actions relating to the Baale Ago-Oja chieftaincy pending the final determination of the appeal.
The suit was instituted by the late Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi.
The Alaafin is asking the apex court to restrain the governor and the attorney-general from “creating or re-creating, establishing or re-establishing the chieftaincy stool of Baale Ago-Oja” and from “appointing, approving or recognising” Alhaji Ganiyu Busari as holder of the stool.
He is also seeking an order restraining the state government from “recognising or further recognising, dealing or further dealing with” Busari as Baale Ago-Oja, as well as stopping any elevation of the chieftaincy from Part III (Minor Chief) to Part II (Recognised Chief).
In addition, the applicant is asking the court to restrain the respondents from “installing or crowning the appellant as the Oloja of Ago-Oja on February 13, 2026, at Olivet High School, Oyo, or at any other venue whatsoever.”
The motion further urges the Supreme Court to set aside Oyo State Gazette No. 01, Vol. 50 of January 17, 2025, “in so far as it relates to the elevation of the Baale Ago-Oja chieftaincy.”
The Alaafin, through his counsel, Adeola Omotunde (SAN), argued that the chieftaincy stool of Baale Ago-Oja was declared non-existent by the Oyo State High Court in a judgment delivered on July 31, 2007, a decision affirmed by the Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division, on December 8, 2017, in Appeal No. CA/I/90/2008.
According to the motion, “any attempt to revive, recognise or elevate a chieftaincy stool already declared non-existent by courts of competent jurisdiction amounts to a disregard of subsisting judgments and is capable of prejudicing the appeal now pending before this Honourable Court.”
The applicant, therefore, urged the apex court to “grant the reliefs sought and make such further orders as this Honourable Court may deem fit in the circumstances of this case.”
The appeal and accompanying motion are yet to be fixed for hearing.
Meanwhile, counsel to the Alaafin of Oyo has written to Governor Seyi Makinde, warning that the proposed installation and coronation of Busari as Oloja of Ago-Oja would amount to “an illegality and a contempt of court.”
In the letter dated February 8, 2026, and addressed to the governor at the Governor’s Office, Agodi, Ibadan, Adedola Omotunde SAN & Co. drew attention to the planned coronation scheduled for February 13, 2026, at Olivet High School, Oyo.
The lawyers reminded the governor that the chieftaincy title of Baale of Ago-Oja had been the subject of prolonged litigation, culminating in judgments of both the High Court and the Court of Appeal, which declared the stool non-existent.
They cited the judgment of Justice S. Olu Akinola, delivered on July 31, 2007, in Suit No. HOY/46/2006, in which the court held that “the title ‘Baale of Ago-Oja’ does not exist in Atiba Local Government Area of Oyo State,” and consequently set aside the approval earlier granted to Busari as “null and void.”
The court further restrained the Oyo State Government from “further treating, dealing with, presenting or recognising” Busari as Baale Ago-Oja and barred him from “parading, presenting or holding himself out as such.”
Although Busari appealed the decision, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on December 8, 2017.
According to the letter, Busari subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court but “has since abandoned the appeal by failing to file his brief of argument since the transmission of the record of appeal in 2018.”
Despite the pending appeal, the lawyers alleged that the Oyo State Government issued Busari a fresh approval letter and later elevated the chieftaincy through Oyo State Gazette No. 01, Vol. 50 of January 17, 2025.
They argued that “it is contrary to law, logic and common sense for a chieftaincy declared non-existent by a court of competent jurisdiction to be resuscitated by executive action.”
Describing the proposed coronation as particularly troubling, the lawyers stressed that “you cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand.”
They disclosed that the impending coronation compelled them to approach the Supreme Court for interlocutory relief, urging the court to restrain the state government from proceeding with the installation.
Appealing directly to the governor, they warned that proceeding with the coronation would portray the Oyo State Government as “a lawless government with no respect for the rule of law and the judgments of the courts.”
“We do not want to embark on any step capable of ridiculing or embarrassing the Oyo State Government in any way,” the lawyers added, urging immediate action to halt the ceremony.
Copies of the motion filed at the Supreme Court were attached to the letter.
Credit: punchng.com
