A human rights organization, the Center for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ) has written a Petition Letter to the President Muhammadu Buhari, Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Muhammed Tanko and 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.
The group who disclosed this in a statement released to the Herald on Thursday, February 27, called on the Federal Government to take appropriate action 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 talk of wearing beaded crown under the Chiefs Law of Osun State in 1995, adding 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 monarch because he was just an impostor and lawbreaker as ordered by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in September 1st,1995.
In a Petition Letter dated February 8th,2020 and signed by its Executive Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi, Alimi Sulaiman, which was forwarded to the President Buhari, CJN and AGF and copies were made available to newsmen on Thursday, Calling for urgent intervention of the appropriate authorities on the matter.
The Petition Letter 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 ordered the State Government to implement the Supreme Court Judgement and August 29th,2003 White paper (Gazette) by the then Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola in pursuant 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 into the matter. The report of the inquiry was made known to the public declaring the wearing of the beaded crown by the Akesin of Ora as illegal and negated the old traditional norms.
“Akesin challenged the then Oyo(Osun) State Government in the High Court. The matter went to Ibadan Court of Appeal and ultimately ended in 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”.
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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 the 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).
Sulaiman who 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 overrule 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 the judiciary was nothing but a mere organ of Government”, CHRSJ Chief submitted.
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