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By Bolaji Okunola
A legal storm is brewing over the recent installation of Mr. Yissa Abiodun Olakunle Sekoni as the new Osolo of Isolo.
Prominent members of the Alagbeji Royal Family have formally issued a pre-action protocol letter challenging the legitimacy of Sekoni’s coronation and threatening legal action if their demands are not met.
In a letter dated May 7 and addressed to Mr. Sekoni, a Lagos-based law firm, Smithworth Partners, representing the claimants, alleged that the presentation of the staff of office and planned coronation of Mr. Sekoni were unlawful and contrary to established tradition and legal procedure governing the Isolo chieftaincy.
The claimants, Alhaji Saheed Ishola Aregbesola, Alhaji Taoridi Faronbi (head of the Alagbeji Royal Family), Chief Razak Akinsanya Alabe and Chief Nojeem Idowu Aregbe, argued that the Alabe branch of the Alagbeji ruling house was duly invited by the Isolo LCDA to nominate a candidate following the death of Oba Kabiru Alani Agbabiaka.
They claimed that Alhaji Aregbe was validly nominated by the family and that the subsequent nomination and installation of Mr. Sekoni, who was not nominated from the Alagbeji family, violated tradition and the ongoing court processes.
According to the legal correspondence, two out of four kingmakers, Alhaji Saheed Ishola Aregbesola, and Chief Taoridi Faronbi (head of the Alagbeji royal family), supported Aregbe’s nomination.
The letter copied to several top government functionaries, including the Governor of Lagos State and the Attorney-General, outlines the claimants’ demands; chief among them is that Mr. Sekoni should issue a formal disclaimer renouncing his interest in the stool and cancel any coronation plans scheduled for June 29, 2025.
The claimants warned that failure to comply by June 8, 2025, would result in the filing of a substantive suit seeking multiple reliefs, including a declaration of the Alabe family’s right to produce the next Osolo, nullification of Sekoni’s installation and injunctions against him and the Lagos State Government.
The legal action, filed as Suit No: ID/12095GCM/2024, is currently pending before the Lagos High Court.
The Osolo of Isolo stool is a significant traditional position within Lagos State, and this legal tussle underscores the ongoing tensions over chieftaincy succession processes in the state. As the June 8 deadline draws closer, the Isolo community and broader Lagos traditional institutions await the next move in what could become a landmark case in Nigerian chieftaincy law.
