The Egba Conventional Council has suspended the Olu of Obafe within the Obafemi/Owode Native Authorities Space of Ogun State, Oba Taofeek Owolabi, for six months over allegations of land grabbing levelled towards him by the Agboro Olatunde Neighborhood Growth Affiliation.
The suspension was contained in a letter dated December 13, 2024, signed by the Alake of Egbaland and President of the Egba Conventional Council, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, and obtained by our correspondent on Tuesday.
The council disclosed that Oba Owolabi’s suspension adopted his failure to honour invites from each the Ogun State Home of Meeting and the council’s Moral Committee to handle the allegations.
The embattled monarch’s troubles started on January 29, 2024, when the Agboro Olatunde Neighborhood Growth Affiliation petitioned the Ogun State Home of Meeting, accusing him of unlawful land acquisition. Regardless of a number of notifications, Oba Owolabi reportedly did not attend conferences scheduled for July 8, 10, and 17 on the Meeting Advanced in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
In October, the normal ruler was arraigned earlier than a Justice of the Peace’s Court docket in Owode-Egba on fees of defrauding one Michael Adeyemi of ₦75 million and assaulting a police officer. The case, which incorporates 4 counts of felony, fraudulent conversion, and assault, remains to be pending in court docket.
The Egba Conventional Council acknowledged that Oba Owolabi’s refusal to cooperate with its Moral Committee left it with no possibility however to invoke Part 36 (1) and (2) of the Ogun State Obas and Chiefs Legislation of 2021 to droop him.
The council described the monarch’s conduct as “completely sudden of anybody who has any declare to being a standard ruler.”
The suspension, efficient instantly, bars Oba Owolabi from attending authorities features or presenting himself publicly because the Olu of Obafe. The monarch may even forfeit all entitlements, together with his wage, all through the six-month suspension.
The letter additional notified the Commissioner for Native Authorities and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ganiyu Hamzat, of the council’s decision.
A part of the letter learn, “On January 29, 2024, the Agboro Olatunde Neighborhood Growth Affiliation petitioned the Ogun State Home of Meeting, accusing you of land grabbing. In a bid to amicably resolve the problems raised, the Home of Meeting invited you to conferences held on July 8, 10, and 17 at Room 215, Ogun State Home of Meeting Advanced, Oke-Mosan. You failed to seem regardless of a number of invites despatched to you.”*
The council added, “The Moral Committee of the Egba Conventional Council held a session of dialogue with you to no avail. According to Part 36 (1) and (2) of the Obas and Chiefs’ Legislation of Ogun State 2021, and for conduct completely sudden of anybody who has any declare to being a standard ruler, the council handed a decision to droop you for six months with out pay, efficient December 13, 2024.”
The letter warned that Oba Owolabi should chorus from attending authorities features or parading himself publicly because the Olu of Obafe in the course of the suspension interval.