The king Kosoko royal family/ Oloja of Lagos chieftaincy family has declared that there is no crisis within the family and that the ascension to stool of Oloja of Lagos is a settled matter.
Kosoko family also stated that the 1983 Registered Declaration guiding the selection of occupant of the Oloja stool is still subsisting and intact.
These were contained in separate statements signed by Alhaja (Chief) Mutiat Ashabi Abimbola Alli – Balogun, Head of the Kosoko Royal family and Prince Sikiru Kosoko, the General Secretary on Friday.
They debunked insinuations contained in an online report that the Lagos State Government is making moves at resolving the crisis surrounding the Oloja of Lagos stool, a first class chieftaincy title in the class of Akarigbere chiefs of Lagos.
The General Secretary of the family, Sikiru Kosoko, who denounced the report, which was based on a purported statement online, declared that only the Olori Ebi, Alhaja Mutiat Ashabi Ali-Balogun or her assigned members of the family has the right to issue statements or engage in official correspondence on behalf of the family.
According to the statement, the purported statement and reports are filled with falsehood and misinformation, adding that contrary to the misinformation in the report, the family, through the Olori Ebi of the entire family and those of the various branches, an Omo Oye, (Oloja of Lagos elect), has been chosen and ratified in the person of Prince Abiola Olojo Kosoko”.
“The attention of the king Kosoko Royal Family of Lagos/ Oloja of Lagos Chieftaincy Family has been drawn to a publication purportedly coming from the family which is not true.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the king Kosoko Royal Family/ Oloja of Lagos chieftaincy family has a strict line of official communication, which is through the Olori Ebi of the family, Alhaja Mutiat Ashabi Ali-Balogun or her assigned member of the family.
“It is also important to note that the Kosoko Royal Family already has an Omo Oye {Oloja of Lagos elect} in the person of Prince Abiola Olojo-Kosoko, whose selection has been ratified by the Olori Ebi of the family and the kingmakers from all other ruling houses in accordance with the 1983 Oloja of Lagos Chieftaincy Declaration”, the family said.
The family scribe further added that the Oloja of Lagos Chieftaincy Declaration of 1983 upon which Prince Abiola Olojo-Kosoko was selected and ratified, is the authentic law guiding the Oloja of Lagos stool, as it is at the moment the only recognized law.
According to the family, the year 2000 Government View, an offshoot of a tribunal headed by retired Justice Akin Holloway, is merely an observation and still ‘in view’, which is yet to be promulgated into law, thus, without any effect or force of law. The guiding principles still remained in the existing 1983 Declaration”.
“Contrary to the reports making the round, we declare that the 1983 Declaration remains sacrosanct as the year 2000 Government View referred to in the report is a mere view and not law”, the statement said.
“It is also important to note that the cases at the High Court and Court of Appeal referred to in the highly misinforming report were not our cases but issues of the chieftaincy family merely mentioned.
“We are by this statement, informing the general public that there is no crisis in the Kosoko Royal Family of Lagos regarding the filling of the vacant Oloja of Ereko stool as all that is necessary have been done to fill the stool and that those agitating against the choice of the family are mere trouble makers bent of dragging the good and eminent name of the family in the mud.”
Also denouncing a press statement allegedly in circulation calling for the ratification of the Registered Declaration of the family, the Kosoko Royal Family said:
“This is also to call the attention of the authorities and the general public to a letter circulating in the name of the Kosoko Royal Family/Oloja of Lagos Chieftaincy Family calling for ratification of the valid registered declaration, a move contrary to the position of the general family and without the consent of the head of the family.
“The judgment of the High and Appeal Courts being referred to in the said press releases does not in any simple language be mentioned or talk about the registered declaration of 1983.
“The judgement of the Appeal Court directed the litigant to go back to the High Court by setting aside the High Court judgment against the litigant.
“The judges in their judgment did not at any point make mention of the declaration because that was not the substance taken to the High Court and as such the Appeal Court cannot give what you did not seek for.
“It is also on record that there is only one registered declaration regulating the process of ascending the stool of the Oloja of Lagos and there are no court cases of any sort against it till date”, the family stated.
While stating that the litigant voluntarily withdrew from the matter, Kosoko family also affirmed that the entire family unanimously approved Alhaja (Chief) Mutiat Ashabi Abimbola Alli-Balogun as the head ( Olori Ebi ) of the family.
The family also added that based on the 1983 Declaration, the family also conducted the selection of the new Oloja of Lagos and concluded it with Prince Abiola Olojo-Kosoko as the Oloja – elect.
“The litigant in October 2014 on his own made an official statement not to continue the legal process in the court of law and the report of inquiry”, the family said in the statement.
“The family has an approved and unanimously accepted Alhaja (Chief) Mutiat Ashabi Abimbola Alli-Balogun as the head ( Olori Ebi ) of the family who is saddled with the responsibility to manage the affairs of the family until there is an Oloja of Lagos in place.
“The issue of the Omo oye (Oloja of Lagos Elect) has since been concluded by the king makers, who had rectified the Omo oye presented by the next ruling house (Akinsanya Olojo) as expressed in the only registered declaration dated 1983 in person of Prince Abiola Olojo-Kosoko from the Akinsanya Olojo Ruling House being declared as the Omo Oye Elect for the stool of the Oloja of Lagos.
“The Olori Ebi, Alhaja Alli-Balogun and the General Secretary of the King Kosoko Royal Family/Oloja of Lagos chieftaincy family, is using this medium to inform the general public and the Lagos State Government of the illegality being put together by some unknown persons to create unrest within the King Kosoko Royal/the Oloja of Lagos Chieftaincy Family and to disrupt the peaceful atmosphere presently enjoyed within the Ereko, Idumota and Balogun area of Lagos Island”, Kosoko family warned.
