Lagbua Family Supports Adeleke Calls for Peace Amid Chieftaincy Dispute

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The Lagbua Family in Iragbiji, Osun State, has issued a warning against any actions that could disturb the peace following the resolution of a 67-year-old chieftaincy dispute in the town.

The family also expressed support for Governor Ademola Adeleke’s decision to implement recommendations aimed at resolving the long-standing issue.

At a press conference in Iragbiji on Saturday, a representative of the family, Adeleke Adeyemo, commended the government’s intervention.

Adeyemo emphasized the historical legitimacy of the Lagbua Family, explaining that it consists of five compounds—Ajibolu (Ooye), Olupejobi, Oluode, Odogun, and Elemo Osho—and was initially listed as Number 2 in the first draft of the Aragbiji Chieftaincy Declaration of 1951.

He further revealed that the family’s status was reaffirmed in 1956 by the Ifelodun District Council through a letter dated June 2, 1956, which stated, “Lagbua family will therefore remain on the declaration as a ruling house.”

Despite this confirmation, Adeyemo noted that the family was reportedly removed from the declaration in 1958, and the family members only discovered this in 1968 when a new monarch was to be appointed.

He recounted previous failed attempts by the Lagbua Family to rectify the situation, including petitions and legal actions, with the most recent effort being the one-man Judicial Panel of Inquiry set up by former Osun State Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola to review the chieftaincy declaration.

The family insists it has historically produced three heads of the Iragbiji community, each serving as Baale at different times before the chieftaincy system evolved.

“The panel did a thorough job, probing the documents and cross-examining the witnesses sent by the ruling houses. The panel concluded the enquiry and submitted its report on July 28, 2010. The concluding paragraph of the report stated, ‘It is, therefore, my recommendation that Lagbua Family of Iragbiji be included as a ruling house in the Aragbiji of Iragbiji Chieftaincy Declaration.’

“But the report was about to be approved by the State Executive Council and gazetted by the state government when the 2010 change in government occurred in Osun State.

“To our amazement, the government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola just wrote a letter to the family that the State Executive Council of the State of Osun, at its meeting held on Wednesday, April 3, 2013, rejected the Lagbua Family as a ruling house without any basis.

“When the present government under the distinguished leadership of Senator Jackson Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke emerged, our family, through our lawyer, petitioned the Osun State Government on the rejection of Lagbua Family as a ruling house in the Aragbiji of Iragbiji Chieftaincy Declaration in a letter dated September 15, 2023.

“The government, in its wisdom, did not act in a hurry but took its time to do due diligence and followed due process to look into the matter. The Government of Light (Imole) served justice on this matter and communicated the verdict after the State Executive Council meeting held on Wednesday, January 29, 2025,” he said.

Describing the family as peace-loving—hence its decision to pursue its struggle for the throne in a peaceful manner—Adeyemo clarified that the Lagbua Family has not sought the removal of the current Aragbiji, Oba Olabomi.

However, Adeyemo called on President Bola Tinubu, Governor Adeleke, and security agencies in the state to intervene, urging them to call Oba Olabomi “to order as his actions and statements in his press conference held at his palace in Iragbiji yesterday, Friday, January 31, 2025, were full of threats to cause violence in Iragbiji and full of attacks on the Government and Governor of Osun State, for serving truth and justice.”

On Wednesday, the Osun State Government announced that the State Executive Council had approved the White Paper on the report of a Judicial Panel of Inquiry into the Aragbiji of Iragbiji Chieftaincy Declaration.

This decision followed decades of disputes over the rightful ruling houses eligible for the Aragbiji Chieftaincy.

However, in response, the Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba Abdulrosheed Olabomi, on Friday, held a press conference, stating that the report of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry was unknown to the town.

The monarch alleged, “The attempt to smuggle an unknown family into the Aragbiji Chieftaincy Declaration is a deliberate act to plunge Iragbiji into crisis.”

Reacting to Oba Olabomi’s allegations, the state government accused the monarch of distorting the facts and playing politics with an issue of justice and equity in the Iragbiji kingship system.

In a statement signed by Dosu Babatunde, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the government reaffirmed that Governor Adeleke has no partisan interest in the matter, contrary to the Aragbiji’s claims.

The statement also emphasized that the administration has the legal right to revise state decisions when necessary and affirmed that the State Executive Council’s decision simply reversed a previous action that unjustly excluded a ruling house from the chieftaincy declaration. It further criticized the Aragbiji for disrespecting protocols and making baseless accusations against the governor.

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