Court Summons Obasanjo, Monarch Over Olowu Stool Tussle

THE State High Court sitting in Isabo, Abeokuta, Ogun State has summoned former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Olowu of Owu, Oba Olusanya Adegboyega Dosunmu, to appear before it over the controversy trailing Dosunmu's appointment to the Owu royal stool.Justice Peter Onamade who presided over the case yesterday, ordered Obasanjo, who is the Balogun of Owu and the monarch to appear during the hearing of a suit filed by one of the contenders, Prince Olutayo Adebiyi Fadairo, who is contesting the royal throne.Fadairo had on June 22, this year filed the suit to protest Dosunmu's selection and installation on July 3, 2005 as the rightful occupant of the royal stool, which according to himis unlawful and illegal.Through a writ of summons filed by his counsel, Fadairo claimed that the kingmakers had initially appointed him as the right candidate for the throne on August 9, 2004 in line with the consent judgment of the State High Court dated July 21, 2004, but later made a sudden u-turn.Other respondents joined in the suit, marked AB/158/2011, are the Ogun State Governor, State Attorney-General, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and Secretary of Abeokuta North Local Government Area of the state. Chiefs S.O. Olaifa, O.O. Oshungboye, S. Ogunlolu, Adisa Adewolu and M. Ola Yusuf, were also included in the suit.At the Court yesterday, the presiding judge also granted the request of the plaintiff to paste order of the court summons on the walls of Obasanjo's Ota farm as well as the Olowu's palace in Abeokuta.Counsel to the plaintiff, Sola Ojutalayo, argued that the action of the former president, and other kingmakers to install Dosunmu as Olowu was unlawful, illegal, null and void.He submitted that the kingmakers allegedly acted in total contravention of the age-old tradition and custom of Owu and the Chiefs Law, Cap 20 of the Laws of Ogun State 1978.He sought the order of the court to summon the defendants as well as ensure the service of necessary court processes on them.Justice Onamade adjourned the case till November 23 for further hearing.
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