A former pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God,  Jesus House, Washington DC, the United States, Prince Afolabi Ghandi Laoye, has been installed as the new Soun of Ogbomosoland in Oyo State.

It was gathered that Laoye arrived in Ogbomoso early on Friday morning in a private chopper, which landed at Ogbomoso Grammar School, before moving to the palace.

Olaloye succeeds Jimoh Oyewunmi Ajagungbade III who died in December 2021, aged 95, after reigning for 48 years.

Olaoye is a descendant of the 9th Soun of Ogbomoso, the late Oba Laoye Orumogege from Baiyewuwon ruling house of Aremo House, Ode-Aremo, Ogbomoso.

Thelagostimes recalls that the governor of Oyo state, Seyi Makinde, on September 2, approved the appointment of Olaoye as the new Soun.

However, Punch reports that some members of the family opposed the approval, thereby heading to court, arguing that he was not part of the process right from the beginning and that he shouldn’t be crowned against their wish.

The family members instituted the suit, marked HOG/27/2022, in July 2022, against the nomination of Ghandi Olaoye by the kingmakers, citing various irregularities in the procedures that produced him thereby praying the court to, among other reliefs, set aside the nomination and to order a fresh process.

The judge, A.K. Adedokun, fixed the judgement day after Olaoye’s counsel, Oladapo Atanda, and Kolawole Fatoye, who represented Ghandi and the kingmakers adopted their processes and presented their arguments for and against the suit.

The defendants in the case include the Oyo State Governor, Oyo State Attorney General, Oyo State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Ogbomoso North Local Government, Ogbomoso North Traditional Council, and Prince Amos Olawole Olaoye (Mogaji Olaoye Ruling House) who are 1st to 6th defendants respectively.

The 7th to 11th defendants are the kingmakers: Chief S.O. Otolorin (Areago of Ogbomoso and Chairman), Chief Salawu Ajadi (Jagun), Chief Tijani Abioye (Bara), Cheif David Adeniran Ojo (Ikolaba) and Chief Yusuf Oladipupo (Abese) while Prince Ghandi Olaoye, the Soun nominee, is the 12th defendant.

The plaintiff, while claiming that the regulations guiding the nomination to fill the vacant stool of Soun Chieftaincy Ogbomoso which include the Soun Chieftaincy Declaration (1958), Ogbomoso District Native Authority Resolution (1953) and Oyo State Chiefs Law (2000) were grossly violated, sought relief that the procedure for Ghandi’s nomination was inconclusive in that a minority committee performed the task instead of the whole members of the family.

“A declaration that the procedure adopted for the nomination of candidate or candidates to fill the vacant stool of Soun of Ogbomoso Chieftaincy by the members of Laoye Ruling House through the purported 11-member screening committee was inconclusive.

“The member of the Olaoye ruling house as a family was denied their legal right of having a final say in voting and/or ratifying the aforesaid report at the time the kingmakers acted upon it, not strictly the method envisaged under the native law and custom, the Laoye ruling house as a body entitled to nominate a candidate for appointment to the stool of Soun and not by the minority of the members of the larger body.”

However, the new monarch was at the palace, on Friday, for an official installation which was performed at Abata by the kingmakers led by the Areago High Chief Sobalaje Otolorin.

The kingmakers said they did not receive any court injunction restraining them from installing Ghandi as the new Soun of Ogbomoso.

He is billed to commence the traditional rites soon.