A legal storm is brewing over the recent installation of Mr. Yissa Abiodun Olakunle Sekoni as the new Osolo of Isolo.
The legal storm is courtesy of prominent members of the Alagbeji Royal Family, who have formally issued a pre-action protocol letter challenging the legitimacy of Sekoni’s coronation and threatening legal action if their demands are not met.
In a letter dated May 7, 2025, and addressed to Mr. Sekoni, Lagos-based law firm Smithworth Partners, representing the claimants, alleged that the presentation of the staff of office and planned coronation of Mr. Sekoni are unlawful and contrary to established tradition and legal procedure governing the Isolo Chieftaincy.
The proposed claimants – Alhaji (Chief) Saheed Ishola Aregbesola, Alhaji (Chief) Taoridi Faronbi (Head of the Alagbeji Royal Family), Chief Razak Akinsanya Alabe, and Chief Nojeem Idowu Aregbe – argue that the Alabe branch of the Alagbeji ruling house was duly invited by the Isolo LCDA to nominate a candidate following the passing of the late Osolo, Oba Kabiru Alani Agbabiaka.
They claim that Alhaji Saheed Aregbe was validly nominated by the family and that the subsequent nomination and installation of Mr. Sekoni, who was not nominated from the Alagbeji family, violated tradition and ongoing court processes.
According to the legal correspondence, two out of four kingmakers (Alhaji (Chief) Saheed Ishola Aregbesola, Alhaji (Chief) Taoridi Faronbi (Head of the Alagbeji Royal Family), supported Aregbe’s nomination which automatically declared him, Mr. Sekoni’s candidacy during Aregbe’s absence abroad.
The letter, which was copied to several top government functionaries including the Governor of Lagos State and the Attorney-General, outlines the claimants’ demands. Chief among them is that Mr. Sekoni should issue a formal disclaimer renouncing his interest in the stool and cancel any coronation plans scheduled for June 29, 2025.
Failure to comply by June 8, 2025, the claimants warned, will result in the filing of a substantive suit seeking multiple reliefs including a declaration of the Alabe family’s right to produce the next Osolo, nullification of Mr. Sekoni’s installation, and injunctions against him and the Lagos State Government.
The legal action, filed as Suit No: ID/12095GCM/2024, is currently pending before the Lagos High Court.
The Osolo of Isolo stool is a significant traditional position within Lagos State, and this legal tussle underscores ongoing tensions over chieftaincy succession processes in the state. As the June 8 deadline looms, the Isolo community and broader Lagos traditional institutions await the next move in what could become a landmark case in Nigerian chieftaincy law
