LAGOS OLOJA STOOL: COURT DISMISSES OBJECTION, ORDERS STATUS QUO
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
Justice Olalekan Oresanya of the Lagos State High Court has ordered all parties in the dispute over the Oloja of Lagos chieftaincy stool to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The judge gave the order after dismissing a preliminary objection filed by Prince Babajide Kosoko, who challenged the court’s jurisdiction to hear the matter.
The objection was supported by the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, who is the first defendant in the suit.
The claimants are the Head of the Akinsanya Olojo Ruling House, Prince Surajudeen Olojo-Kosoko; the ruling house’s General Secretary, Prince Theophilus Olojo-Kosoko; and Prince Abiola Kosoko, who instituted the action on behalf of themselves and the Akinsanya Olojo-Kosoko Ruling House.
Other defendants include the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Rural Development, the Executive Chairman of Lagos Island Local Government, Prince Babajide Kosoko, Mr Muritala Kosoko and Mr Tunji Kosoko.
Counsel to the claimants, Olusegun Fabunmi (SAN), told the court that the suit was instituted to challenge attempts to replace Prince Abiola Kosoko, whom the ruling house had nominated as its candidate for the Oloja of Lagos stool.
In his preliminary objection, counsel to Prince Babajide Kosoko, Dayo Oshodi (SAN), argued that the matter related to the nomination, selection and installation of a traditional ruler, which is governed by customary law and the Lagos State Obas and Chiefs Law.
He urged the court to decline jurisdiction and dismiss the suit.
However, the claimants maintained that the nomination process had been concluded in 2020 with the emergence of Prince Abiola Kosoko as the duly nominated candidate of the ruling house.
They alleged that following a dispute over land, some of the defendants ignored the earlier nomination and commenced efforts to process the candidacy of other princes.
In his ruling, Justice Oresanya held that the claimants had disclosed a reasonable cause of action deserving judicial determination.
He ruled that the issues raised in the preliminary objection required the evaluation of evidence and could only be resolved during the substantive hearing.
“I find no merit in the preliminary objection filed by the fifth defendant. The objection is overruled, and the application is accordingly dismissed,” the judge held.
The court, however, declined the claimants’ application for an interlocutory injunction seeking to restrain the defendants from recommending, selecting, nominating, appointing or installing another person as Oloja of Lagos pending the outcome of the suit.
Justice Oresanya held that granting the application at that stage would amount to determining substantive issues before trial and could prejudice the defendants.
Instead, the court directed all parties to preserve the existing state of affairs before the events that allegedly led to the nomination of the fifth and sixth defendants.
The judge consequently affirmed that Prince Abiola Olojo-Kosoko remains the Oloja-elect pending the determination of the substantive suit and ordered an accelerated hearing of the case.
The matter was adjourned until October 6, 2026, for the hearing of the substantive suit.
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