The Lagbua Family in Iragbiji, Osun State, has warned against any actions that could disturb public peace following the resolution of a 67-year-old chieftaincy dispute in the town.

The family also expressed its support for Governor Ademola Adeleke’s decision to implement recommendations aimed at resolving the long-standing issue.

A representative of the family, Adeleke Adeyemo, at a press conference in Iragbiji on Saturday, commended the government’s intervention.

Asserting that the Lagbua Family had historical legitimacy, Adeyemo explained that the family, made up of five compounds—Ajibolu (Ooye), Olupejobi, Oluode, Odogun, and Elemo Osho—was originally listed as Number 2 in the first draft of the Aragbiji Chieftaincy Declaration of 1951.

He further revealed that the family’s status was reaffirmed in 1956 by the Ifelodun District Council in a letter dated June 2, 1956, which stated, “Lagbua family will therefore remain on the declaration as a ruling house.”

Despite this confirmation, Adeyemo said the family was reportedly removed from the declaration in 1958, and family members were unaware of the removal until 1968, when a new monarch was to be appointed.

He recalled previous failed attempts by the Lagbua family to correct the situation, including petitions and legal actions, noting that the most recent effort was the one-man Judicial Panel of Inquiry set up by former Osun State Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola to review the chieftaincy declaration.

The family maintains that it has historically produced three heads of the Iragbiji community, each serving as Baale at different times before the chieftaincy system evolved.

“The panel did a thorough job, probing the documents and cross-examining the witnesses sent by the ruling houses. The panel concluded the enquiry and submitted its report on July 28, 2010. The concluding paragraph of the report stated, ‘It is, therefore, my recommendation that Lagbua Family of Iragbiji be included as a ruling house in the Aragbiji of Iragbiji Chieftaincy Declaration.’

“But the report was about to be approved by the State Executive Council and gazetted by the state government when the 2010 change in government occurred in Osun State.

“To our amazement, the government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola just wrote a letter to the family that the State Executive Council of the State of Osun, at its meeting held on Wednesday, April 3, 2013, rejected the Lagbua Family as a ruling house without any basis.

“When the present government under the distinguished leadership of Senator Jackson Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke emerged, our family, through our lawyer, petitioned the Osun State Government on the rejection of Lagbua Family as a ruling house in the Aragbiji of Iragbiji Chieftaincy Declaration in a letter dated September 15, 2023.

“The government, in its wisdom, did not act in a hurry but took its time to do due diligence and followed due process to look into the matter. The Government of Light (Imole) served justice on this matter and communicated the verdict after the State Executive Council meeting held on Wednesday, January 29, 2025,” he said.

Describing the family as peace-loving—hence its decision to pursue its struggle for the throne in a peaceful manner—Adeyemo also said the Lagbua Family has not sought the removal of the current Aragbiji, Oba Olabomi.

He, however, urged President Bola Tinubu, Governor Adeleke, and heads of security agencies in the state to call Oba Olabomi “to order, as his actions and statements in his press conference held at his palace in Iragbiji yesterday, Friday, January 31, 2025, were full of threats to cause violence in Iragbiji and full of attacks on the government and governor of Osun State for serving truth and justice.”

On Wednesday, the Osun State Government announced that the State Executive Council had approved the White Paper on the report of a Judicial Panel of Inquiry into the Aragbiji of Iragbiji Chieftaincy Declaration.

This decision followed decades of disputes over the rightful ruling houses eligible for the Aragbiji Chieftaincy.

However, the Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba Abdulrosheed Olabomi, on Friday, in a press conference, reacted to the development.

Oba Olabomi stated that the report of the judicial panel of inquiry was unknown to the town.

The monarch alleged that “the attempt to smuggle an unknown family into the Aragbiji Chieftaincy Declaration is a deliberate act to plunge Iragbiji into crisis.”

Reacting on Saturday to Oba Olabomi’s allegations, the state government also accused the monarch of twisting facts and playing politics with a matter of justice and equity in the Iragbiji kingship system.

In a statement signed by Dosu Babatunde, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, on Saturday, the government absolved Governor Adeleke of any partisan interest in the matter as alleged by the Aragbiji.

The statement also affirmed that the administration has all the legal rights and powers to act on state matters, including revising previous decisions if the situation calls for it.

The state government posited that the decision of the State Executive Council only reversed a previous state action that apparently denied a ruling house the due rights to be included in the chieftaincy declaration, rebuking the Aragbiji for wilfully and disrespectfully violating protocols by leveling baseless allegations and insults on the state governor.