There seems to be no end in sight anytime soon for the controversy surrounding the emergence of a new Alajede of Ijede town in Ijede Local Council Development Area (LCDA) in Ikorodu division.
This is so as the case management instituted at the Ikorodu High Court to facilitate amicable settlement for the parties involved in the Obaship tussle was unsuccessful and the court has now ruled that the case should proceed to full trial.
At the case management sitting which was commenced on Thursday, February 4, 2016, at Ikorodu High Court, Chief Olayiwola Owoyele, the head of the Idowu Ajanaku Royal Family of Ijede told the court on behalf of all the claimants in the suit No. IKD/82/2013 that they had sued the 1st defendant (Prince Saheed Hassan) because he intends to unrightfully fill the vacant stool of Oba of Ijede. He said the family had equally sued the 3rd defendant (Kingmakers of Ijede) because they also intend to unrightfully install the 1st defendant as the Oba of Ijede.
Chief Owoyele equally stated that both the 4th and 5th defendants (government) were sued because they were influenced by the 1st defendant to install him as the next king of Ijede.
He added that the representatives of both 4th and 5th defendants had on several occasions invited his family and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants to meetings in a bid to settle the matter amicably but that such moves were unsuccessful. He however submitted that they do not believe the matter can be settled amicably.
Prince Saheed Hassan while stating his own case said he knows all the claimants but expressed his surprise that they were alleging him of intending to unrightfully occupy the Obaship stool of Ijede. He denied the allegation that the kingmaker wanted to unrightfully install him as the next Oba of Ijede, because according to him, he dully attended and participated in the screening organized by the kingmaker for all the candidates vying for the coveted throne and also denied to have influenced the 4th and 5th defendants to be installed as Alajede of Ijede.
Prince Hassan expressed his availability for any settlement on the matter but, however, stressed that if the claimants are not ready for amicable settlement, he is ready for trial.
And after several efforts particularly from the state and local government towards ensuring that all parties involved in the matter settled out of court fell through, Justice M.A. Savage of the Ikorodu High Court while delivering his ruling on the case management proceeding on Thursday, March 10 ordered that the case should proceed to full trial. He said this was necessary since the claimants and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants had joined issues and were also unable to settle the matter amicably.
Meanwhile, a member of the Dada Eko royal family of Ijede where Prince Saheed Hassan emerged from had filed an application to be joined in the Obaship suit. The application for joinder was moved on March 10, by the counsel to the applicant, Mr. I.K. Thanni.
Justice Savage who openly expressed his dismay over the timing of the application asked Mr. Thanni the reason for the sudden interest of his client in the suit since it was instituted in 2013.
Mr. Thanni in his response explained that though, he had been briefed by the applicant for quite some time, he was unable to file the application because of his busy schedule at the election tribunal.
But in a swift reaction, the counsel to the claimants, Mr. Adetayo Tolulope described the application as unnecessary and ill-timed as it will stall trial if allowed to be heard. However, Justice Savage stated that the application would be heard irrespective of its timing because the law states that all applications whether frivolous or unnecessary must be heard once filed to determine their merits or otherwise.
He submitted that the application if successful will affect the date for the commencement of the main trial. The case was later adjourned to April 14, 2016 for the hearing of the application for joinder.