High Chief Lekan Balogun and other members of the Olubadan-in-Council as well as Baales elevated to the position of obas (kings) by the immediate past governor of Oyo State, late Senator Abiola Ajimobi in 2017 have ordered their legal counsel, to withdraw their case challenging a consent judgment on their elevation to Obaship status.
The decision to withdraw the suit was contained in a letter addressed to their lawyer, Kunle Sobaloju, dated January 30, 2022 with names and titles of the affected high chiefs listed as clients.
According to the titled, ‘Re: Oba Senator Lekan Balogun & others vs Governor of Oyo State and others’, the kingmakers ordered their lawyer to “discontinue and withdraw” the case with immediate effect.
Part of the letter read, “We are your client in the above suit No: 1/22/2020/. After careful and painstaking consideration of the lingering crisis trailing the succession of the throne of our new Olubadan of Ibadan land, we resolved as follows:
“That the peace of Ibadan land is paramount in our hearts and as such no sacrifice is too much to be made to achieve the same.
“That we as kingmakers and members of Olubadan-in-Council have decided to withdraw our above-mentioned suit inHigh Court of Justice of Oyo State, Ibadan with immediate effect.
“That future reforms or reviews to the Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration of 1957 should be kept in view, for now, to be addressed during the tenure of our new Olubadan of Ibadan.
“In view of the above, we as your clients are now instructing you to discontinue the above suit and withdraw same forthwith from the court of law of Oyo State and file a notice of withdrawal in court latest February 1, 2022, without failure.”
