Nigerian Tribune reports that the Afin Oro ruling house in the ancient Oro kingdom, located in the Irepodun local government area of Kwara State, has filed a lawsuit challenging the eligibility of Oba Joel Olaniyi Oyatoye Titiloye, the newly installed traditional ruler of Oro.

Oba Titiloye was recently presented with his second-class staff of office by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, represented by his deputy, Mr Kayode Alabi, in Ilorin on Sunday.

The Afin Oro ruling house contends that Oba Titiloye is not a member of the royal family qualified to ascend the traditional throne of the kingdom, and had previously initiated legal proceedings to dispute his candidature.

The Afin Oro family, in their claims, stressed that Oba Titiloye is from Iludun and traditionally, historically, no one from that axis qualifies as a Royal lineage carrier to occupy the revered Oro Kingdom stool.

In a statement by the legal counsel to the Afin Oro royal family, Barrister Akin Akintoye (SAN) and the alleged candidate of the town’s kingmakers for the throne, Prince Clement Ogundokun Adegbola, the case will be coming up on November 4, 2024.

According to the legal counsel, the documents presented by the installed monarch to the state Ministry of Local Government Chieftaincy and Community Development allegedly said that his client, Prince Adegbola, stepped down for him in the race to the stool.

Barr Akintoye, who expressed surprise over the installation of Oba Titiloye when the case challenging his eligibility was still pending before a High Court presided over by Justice Adegbite, described the installation as an aberration and unconstitutional.

“I’m representing the Afin Oro including the candidate whom the royal family chose to be Oloro of Oro Kingdom against the Oba Titiloye and the head of the kingmakers. My clients hold the position that the said Oba is not from Afin Oro and not from the Olufayo compound.

“They claimed he comes from Iludun. His father and grandfather lived and died in Iludun Oro. On this basis, we expect the court to determine that he’s not from Iludun Oro and he is not entitled to the Oloro of Oro seat.

“That case has been pending in court. Meanwhile, we’ve earlier informed the chairman of the traditional council, Oba Olupo, in writing and the Ministry of Local Government Affair of the wrong intention to install Oba Titiloye.

“Olupo called meetings of all the party in the palace and became clear that he’s not from Afin Oro and he’s only known in Iludun Oro who don’t have right to the stool. Olupo, in his resolution, said they should settle among themselves.

“But along the line, we understand that Oba Titiloye has gone to meet some people that they’ve settled and they’ve made him the preferred candidate. We got this information, and we refuted that the matter is still in court.

“That case is still pending in court. That and the ministry is aware of it. So, installation of Oba Titiloye is an abberation, unwarranted and unconstitutional. Some people went to the government to say that the case had been struck out, but there was nothing of such.

Also speaking, some elders in the ancient town said that the installation of Oba Titiloye was sacrilegious, adding that the process allegedly flouted ancestral traditions and constitutional procedures.

They said the kingmakers, who are six in number, had initially chosen Prince Clement Ogundokun Adegbola as King and even asked him to start coming home from abroad for the traditional rites into the stool.

The family head of Afin Oro’s Olufola ruling house, Prince Wasiu Olaniyi Oloyede, expressed disappointment, saying, “We’ve been cheated and disenfranchised of our rightful place”.

Meanwhile, the suit has already been filed at the Kwara State High Court sitting in Omu-Aran by seven claimants seeking redress over the development.