Three ruling houses in Iwo, Osun State, have instituted a suit before the Osun State High Court seeking the removal of the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, over allegations bordering on the exhumation of the remains of past monarchs buried within the palace premises.
The suit, marked HoS/56/2026, was filed by Princes Olalekan Lamuye, Adedoja Osunwo, Alade Ismaila, Ganiyu Saheed, Kosiru Kolawole and Wasiu Abolusodun on behalf of the Ogunmakinde Ande, Adegunodo and Alausa ruling houses in Iwo.
Joined as defendants in the matter are Governor Ademola Adeleke, the Secretary of Iwo Local Government, the Osun State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the Osun State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, the Inspector-General of Police, and the Director of the National Cyber Crime Centre, Abuja.
In the court processes dated May 21, 2026, and filed through their counsel, Soji Oyetayo, the claimants sought 13 reliefs, including an order declaring Oba Akanbi unqualified to continue occupying the throne of Oluwo of Iwo.
The princes specifically accused the monarch of unilaterally exhuming the remains of former Oluwos buried at “Ileta” within the palace, an action they described as contrary to the customs and traditions of Iwo land.
Part of the reliefs sought by the claimants reads: “A mandatory order of court compelling the 1st Defendant to vacate and/or abdicate the exalted throne of Oluwo of Iwo being no longer a fit and proper person to occupy and/or continue to occupy the exalted throne of Oluwo of Iwo.”
They also prayed the court for “a declaration that the unilateral decision of the 1st Defendant to exhume and the exhumation of the remains of the corpses of the past Oluwo of Iwo from the traditional place of ‘Ileta’ where they were buried within the palace, in accordance with the custom and tradition of Iwo, is irregular, unlawful and without moral justification.”
The plaintiffs further asked the court to declare the stool of the Oluwo vacant and compel the Osun State Government and relevant authorities to commence a fresh process for selecting a new monarch in line with the Oluwo of Iwo Chieftaincy Declaration of 1988.
According to the claimants, the process should involve inviting the next ruling house in the rotational order to present candidates for consideration by the kingmakers.
Aside from the chieftaincy dispute, the suit also challenged the alleged arrest and detention of one of the claimants, Adedoja Osunwo, by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja.
The princes alleged that Osunwo was invited, arrested and detained for four days at the instance of Oba Akanbi over what they described as a “purely civil matter of defamation of character”.
Consequently, they asked the court to declare the arrest unlawful and a violation of the claimant’s fundamental rights.
They also sought a perpetual injunction restraining the Inspector-General of Police and the Director of the National Cyber Crime Centre from further inviting, arresting or detaining any of the claimants over issues relating to alleged defamation of the monarch.
The suit equally requested an injunction restraining Oba Akanbi from further performing the functions of the Oluwo of Iwo or parading himself as the traditional ruler pending the determination of the matter.
Reacting to the development, the monarch, through his media aide, Alli Ibraheem, dismissed the suit and described the claimants as “noisemakers”.
According to him, the legal action was driven by opposition to the developmental strides being recorded in Iwo under the reign of Oba Akanbi.
“They are obviously dazed about the progress Iwo is recording under the reign of Oba Akanbi. He is representing God, no one can remove him. They can approach the court. They are noise makers,” Ibraheem said.
Former Governor Rauf Aregbesola installed Oba Akanbi as the 16th Oluwo of Iwo from the Gbaase Ruling House in 2016 following the death of Oba Ashiru Tadese, which was announced on February 18, 2012.
The current legal battle is the latest in a series of disputes between the monarch and princes from the other ruling houses in Iwo over chieftaincy and traditional matters.
