The Osun State High Court sitting in Iragbiji has set aside the state government’s decision to approve the Lagbua family as the fifth ruling house in the Aragbiji of Iragbiji chieftaincy.
Justice G.O. Lawal, in a judgment delivered on August 21, 2026, held that the Osun State Government lacked the power to reopen and reconsider a report of a 2010 panel of inquiry, which had already been rejected by the government in 2013.
The Certified True Copy of the judgment was obtained by The PUNCH.
The suit, marked HIR/3/2025, was filed by representatives of the four existing ruling houses in Iragbiji — Ajibode, Ogunmolu, Osungbemi and Arodoye — against the Osun State governor and other defendants, including representatives of the Lagbua family.
The plaintiffs were Chief Salawu Fatai, suing for himself and on behalf of other members of the Ajibode ruling house of Iragbiji; Chief Wale Oyedokun, suing for himself and on behalf of other members of the Ogunmolu ruling house of Iragbiji; Prince Kola Afolabi, suing for himself and on behalf of other members of the Osungbemi ruling house of Iragbiji; and Prince Adeyinka Adebisi, suing for himself and on behalf of other members of the Arodoye ruling house of Iragbiji.
The defendants are the Governor of Osun State; the Osun State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice; the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs; Mogaji-Badiru Adeyemi; Mogaji-Badiru Oyekanmi; a lawyer, Adegbile Moronkeji; and another lawyer, Adeleke Adeyemo, for themselves and on behalf of all members of the Lagbua family of Iragbiji (fourth to seventh defendants).
The dispute arose from the state government’s decision to approve the inclusion of the Lagbua family as the fifth ruling house in the Aragbiji Chieftaincy Declaration.
The plaintiffs challenged the Osun State Executive Council’s decision at its January 29, 2025 meeting, where the government approved the earlier report of a one-man Judicial Panel of Inquiry headed by Justice A.A. Aderibigbe.
The panel, constituted in 2010, recommended including the Lagbua family as a ruling house.
The plaintiffs argued that the report had already been rejected by the Osun State Government in 2013, and that the rejection was communicated to the Lagbua family in a letter dated April 25, 2013, and published in the Osun State Gazette No. 7, Volume 23, of April 4, 2013.
They contended that the government could not revive the rejected report without constituting a fresh panel of inquiry and giving affected parties an opportunity to be heard.
Justice Lawal agreed with the plaintiffs, holding that the letter rejecting the Lagbua family’s request, coupled with its subsequent publication in the official gazette, amounted to the government’s formal decision on the report.
The judge rejected the defendants’ argument that the 2013 decision merely rejected the Lagbua family’s request and did not amount to a rejection of the Aderibigbe panel’s report.
Justice Lawal held that the chronology of events showed that the rejection letter was issued after the panel had submitted its report to the government and therefore constituted the government’s response to the report.
The judge said, “The inference that the Government had considered and rejected the recommendations is compelling,” adding that the publication of the decision in the official gazette made the government’s position known to the affected parties and the public.
The court further held that the government’s 2013 decision brought the Aderibigbe panel proceedings to an end.
Justice Lawal said the proper avenue available to the Lagbua family, if dissatisfied with the government’s decision, was to challenge it in court rather than wait until 2025, when a subsequent administration revived the report.
The judge also held that the government could not revisit the 2010 panel’s report without following the legally prescribed procedure.
According to the court, although a chieftaincy declaration could be amended, any amendment would have to be based on a fresh panel of inquiry, not on a report that had already been considered and rejected.
Justice Lawal also found that the decision to revive the report without notifying the four existing ruling houses breached their right to a fair hearing.
The judge noted that if the government had the power to repeatedly review and reverse decisions on the same panel report, successive administrations could continue changing the position indefinitely, thereby preventing disputes from coming to an end.
The court consequently answered the five questions submitted for determination by the plaintiffs in their favour.
It declared that the 2013 decision rejecting the Aderibigbe panel’s recommendation was binding on the parties and the Lagbua family.
The court also declared that the Osun State Government lacked the power and competence to issue or authorise another White Paper approving the rejected report.
Justice Lawal further declared the reopening, reconsideration and acceptance of the report without notice to the plaintiffs and an opportunity to be heard illegal and a breach of their right to a fair hearing.
The court subsequently set aside the decision reached at the Osun State Executive Council meeting of January 29, 2025, approving the Lagbua family as the fifth ruling house.
It also made a consequential order setting aside the White Paper issued by the Osun State Government accepting the Aderibigbe panel’s 2010 report and amending the Aragbiji Chieftaincy Declaration to include the Lagbua family as the fifth ruling house.
However, the court struck out the plaintiffs’ claims for perpetual injunction and N50m damages, holding that the reliefs had either been overtaken by events or were unsupported by sufficient evidence.
The judge also ordered that each party bear its own costs.
“In the final result, the claimants’ claims against the defendants jointly and severally succeed,” Justice Lawal held.
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