Members of the Olubadan-in-Council are to meet again tomorrow to finally resolve the legal logjam on the succession process, The Nation has learnt.
The succession is being partly held down by two suits challenging the consent judgment that nullified crowning of high chiefs and some baales in 2017. The two cases were filed by the high chiefs and the elevated baales.
The suits sought to set aside the judgment on the grounds that they did not take part in the agreements that formed the judgment, despite that they were affected by it. The high chiefs filed one, while the other was filed by the elevated baales. Both groups benefited from the 2017 review of the Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration, which elevated them to his Royal Majesties.
Tomorrow’s meeting, it was gathered, was necessitated by the meeting held with Governor Seyi Makinde on Saturday where it was agreed that anything that would disturb the succession would be resolved, to give peace a chance and pave the way for the enthronement of Otun Olubadan High Chief Lekan Balogun.
The Nation gathered that Makinde told the high chiefs at the Saturday meeting that resolution of the succession crisis should not be allowed to come from the court, stressing that there should be no victor, no vanquished. The governor and state government are parties in the suit in which a consent judgment was obtained.
A source close to the meeting disclosed to The Nation that Makinde emphasised that whichever party wins in the suit is essentially not a victor, because the issue is all about preserving the cherished Ibadan chieftaincy system in which all the parties in the suit have a stake.
Agreeing with the governor, the source said all the chiefs agreed on the need to resolve the legal logjam peacefully and allow a smooth enthronement of Lekan Balogun as the next Olubadan within the time stipulated in the chieftaincy declaration.
Tomorrow’s meeting, it was learnt, would enable the high chiefs decide on the exact step to take in ending the legal logjam. The council members are likely to announce the withdrawal of their suit after briefing the elevated baales.
The late Oba Saliu Adetunji joined his ancestors on January, 2. A new Olubadan is expected to be crowned within 90 days.
