Four princes have dragged the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Akeem Owoade, to a State High Court, to stop him from attending functions with other neighbouring monarchs.
The claimants: Ladigbolu Moshood Adegboyega, Owoade Olaide Tesleem, Adeyemi Sikiru Adesina and Adeyemi Akinade Adebayo in a suit with no: HOY/18/2026 are asking the court to restrain the monarch from attending/participating in occasions and functions that will make him subservient or inferior to any Oba in Yorubaland.
In the court papers dated February 6, 2026 and sighted by The Nation yesterday, the claimants are seeking “an order of perpetual injunction restraining the monarch from acting in any traditional and official position which will make him to be subservient and inferior to any Oba in Yorubaland.
Specifically, the claimants want the court to reinforce the supremacy and historic importance of the Alaafin stool among others monarchs in Yorubaland, while also limiting the extent of his participation at events or occasion which may deem belittling of the stool.
The monarch is expected to make an appearance personally or through representation in a case instituted against him by the members of the larger royal family.
The claimants sought the order of perpetual injunction restraining the Alaafin, a defendant in the suit, either by himself, servants, privies or any other person whatsoever, from appearing, attending or further attending occasions and functions that are not befitting the status of a symbolic traditional head of the Yoruba race.
The claimants further are seeking: “A declaration that the office of the Alaafin of Oyo, currently occupied by the defendant, is of great historical importance not only in Yorubaland but also in Nigeria, West Africa and beyond.
“A declaration that the Alaafin of Oyo is the symbol of unity, togetherness and the pivotal holder of the cultural, customary and traditional heritage of the Yoruba people.
“A declaration that the Alaafin of Oyo is the paramount ruler and appointing authority over all chieftaincies in Oyo Town as well as Oyo North and South,” the suit read.
The defendant, as stated in the writ of summons, may enter an appearance personally or through legal practitioners by handing in the appropriate forms duly completed at the registry of the High Court of the judicial division where the action was brought, or by sending them to the registry by registered post.
