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The Lekki Local Council Development Area (LCDA) has stepped into the lingering dispute over the vacant stool of the Onise of Ise, convening a mediation and reconciliation meeting that ended with stakeholders committing to maintain peace and allow the courts determine the substantive issues surrounding the succession.
The mediation session, organised by the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Department of the council’s Legal Unit, was held on June 10, 2026, at the Lekki LCDA Secretariat in Lagos following rising tension over the selection of a new traditional ruler for Ise Community.
The meeting was chaired by the Executive Chairman of Lekki LCDA, Rasaki Bamidele Kasali, and attended by the Council Manager, Asokere Sejuro, Deputy Director of Legal Services, Afolake Fumilayo Senami Roberts, traditional rulers, representatives of the four ruling houses, kingmakers and professional mediators.
Opening the session, Roberts said the council convened the meeting in fulfilment of its statutory responsibility to promote peace, public order and communal harmony following reports from security agencies, traditional institutions, community leaders and residents of growing tension over the succession.
“This mediation was convened solely to promote dialogue, reduce tension and preserve peace in Ise Community. It is not intended to determine legal rights or interfere with matters already before the court,” she said. She stressed that the council would not interfere with pending litigation, particularly Suit No. ID/107169CM/2026 between Prince Taibu Adewale Ogunbanjo and another against the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lagos State, and four others.
According to her, the objectives of the meeting were to encourage dialogue, reduce tension, promote reconciliation and preserve peace pending the determination of the dispute by the court.
The council disclosed that it had received several petitions and correspondences from members of the Okunoye Ruling House nominating different individuals for the stool, including Prince Barr. Babatunde Ekindayo Esualana, Prince Ibrahim Adebowale Saliu and Prince Seun Ahmed Owoseni.
Stakeholders expressed concern that the emergence of multiple nominees had created uncertainty and heightened tension within the community.
Questions were also raised over the absence of documentary evidence, including minutes of the meeting purportedly held to nominate a candidate, with several participants insisting that such records were necessary to establish compliance with customary and procedural requirements.
Some members of the Okunoye Ruling House also challenged the process through which Prince Ibrahim Adebowale Saliu reportedly emerged as nominee, alleging that the exercise lacked broad consultation and did not reflect the consensus of the family.
Similarly, Adekunle Biobaku, Esq., of LAW PHARM LP, solicitors to the Head and Principal members of the Adegoroye Royal Family, in a petition dated April 13, 2026, challenged the purported selection of Mr. Ibrahim Sangodeyi Saliu as Oba Onise of Ise-elect.
The petition argued that reliance on the declaration made under Section 6(2) of the Obas and Chiefs Law, Cap. 138, Laws of Lagos State, 1994, regulating selection to the stool of Onise of Ise, approved on August 16 and registered on August 18, 1999, amounted to a “fundamental distortion of history and customary law,” including the wrongful creation and structuring of ruling houses.
According to the petitioners, the development raises grave issues affecting customary law, historical facts, equity and public order.
“The cumulative effect is that non-royal lineages have been elevated to royal status, a single lineage has been split into three for advantage, while the legitimate royal family has been marginalised. This is a clear violation of the native law and custom governing the stool.
“The purported emergence of Mr. Ibrahim Sangodeyi Saliu is therefore based on an inapplicable declaration founded on a distorted ruling house structure, contrary to customary law and historical reality, and is consequently ultra vires, unlawful, null, void and of no effect whatsoever.”
The petitioners are seeking the nullification of Saliu’s purported selection and the affirmation of the Adegoroye Royal Family as the sole legitimate ruling house to the Onise of Ise stool.
The matter is currently before the High Court of Lagos State, Epe Judicial Division, in Suit No. EPD/15252GCMW/2026, involving members of the Adegoroye Royal Family against the Attorney-General of Lagos State, the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Rural Development, the Executive Chairmen of Lekki LCDA and Epe Local Government, as well as Mr. Ibrahim Sangodeyi Saliu and representatives of the Okunoye, Olukoko and Shebitan families.
The case has been adjourned until October 29, 2026.
Meanwhile, other stakeholders raised concerns over the interpretation and validity of the existing Chieftaincy Declaration, but the council declined to comment, noting that the issues are already before the court.
Representatives of the Olukoko Ruling House clarified that they were not laying claim to the vacant stool but attended the mediation in support of peace, stability and due process.
Addressing participants, Chairman Kasali and the traditional rulers commended all parties for their peaceful conduct and urged them to place the unity, peace and cultural heritage of Ise Community above personal interests.
“No individual interest should be allowed to jeopardise the peace and unity of Ise Community. We urge all stakeholders to allow lawful processes to take their course,” Kasali said.
The royal fathers also appealed for restraint, stressing that the legitimacy of traditional institutions depends not only on law and custom but also on public confidence.
The council further urged stakeholders to avoid inflammatory statements, acts of provocation and all forms of self-help capable of escalating tension in the community.
At the end of the meeting, the council reaffirmed its neutrality, insisting it would not determine the validity of any nomination or candidate for the stool.
“The council remains neutral on the chieftaincy dispute and will continue to support every lawful effort aimed at maintaining peace and security,” Kasali added.
Stakeholders were unanimously urged to maintain peace, continue dialogue where necessary and pursue all grievances through lawful channels while awaiting the outcome of the pending litigation.
In a mediation report signed by chartered mediators David Kupolati and C.N. Nga, the panel observed that although divergent views remained over the succession process, stakeholders demonstrated a collective commitment to preserving peace and respecting the judicial process.
According to the report, the mediation achieved its immediate objective of fostering dialogue, reducing tension and securing commitments from all parties to refrain from violence, intimidation and any conduct capable of disrupting public peace in Ise Community while the legal process runs its course.
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