An Okitipupa High Court has retrained the Ondo State government and traditional kingmakers over the installation of Olofun of Irele in Irele local government area of the state.
Also, the court presided over by Justice A.W. Fabuluje in an interlocutory injunction barred Prince Samuel Saka Odimayo from parading himself as the new Olofun of Irele pending the determination of a suit filed against his selection and approval of his appointment by the State Executive Council.
An aspirant for the throne Olofun of Irele throne, Prince Ademola Idowu Olowoyiribi, through a team of lawyers led by Femi Emmanuel Emodamori had filed an application at the Okitipupa Judicial Division of the praying for “An order setting aside the purported approval of the ‘appointment’ of the 1st Defendant/Respondent as the Olofun of Irele by the 5th to 7th Defendants/Respondents and other members of the Ondo State Executive Council on or about 2nd June, 2026, despite the subsisting Interim Injunction granted by this Honourable Court on 6th May, 2026 preventing or prohibiting them from doing so.”
Also, Olowoyiribi filed another application (Form 49) to jail Mr. Saka Odimayo for presenting himself or allowing himself to be presented to the State Executive Council for approval as the Olofun of Irele, despite a subsisting order of the Court specifically restraining him from doing so.
He sought an order of Interim injunction restraining Odimayo, whether by himself, agents, privies, or any persons acting on his behalf, from parading himself, performing any traditional rites/rituals, or presenting himself for installation as the Olofun of Irele, pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice for Interlocutory Injunction.
Other orders by the court included “An order of Interim injunction restraining the 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 7th Defendants/Respondents (Irele local government, State Commissioner for local government, State Governor, and Kingmakers) from recognizing, installing, or processing any request for approval of the 1st Defendant/Respondent as Olofun of Irele, pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice.
“An order of Interim injunction maintenance of status quo ante bellum directing all parties to revert to and maintain the state of affairs that existed before 30th April, 2026, particularly that the stool of Olofun of Irele remains vacant and no traditional rites/installation shall be performed, pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice.”
There appears to be a dramatic twist in the protracted tussle over the first-class Olofun Obaship tussle, following the recent approval of the appointment of Prince Saka Odimayo as the new monarch by the State Executive Council in a meeting held on June 2, 2026.
At the resumed hearing of the suit, Emodamori narrated the sequence of events leading to what he described as contemptuous actions of the State Government.
Counsel to the State Government, Helen Falowo, was absent in Court, while Mr. Saka Odimayo was also not represented by any Counsel.
Upon the application of the Claimant’s Counsel, the Court adjourned the case to June 18, 2026, with an order directing that hearing notices be issued and served on all the Defendants who must respond to the allegations against them in the pending motions within five working days.
Speaking to reporters after the court proceedings, a member of the legal team for Prince Olowoyiribi, A.P. Amuluku, stated that the consequences of the alleged flagrant violation of the order of the Court by the State Executive Council were very grave and dangerous.
The court renewed the ex parte order made by the court on the 6th day of May, 2026, and adjourned the case till 18th June, 2026.
