RCCG Pastor, Ghandi Laoye Crowned As Soun Of Ogbomoso, Family Members Go To Court

A former pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Jesus House, Washington DC, the United States, Prince Afolabi Ghandi Laoye, has been crowned Soun of Ogbomosoland.

The kingmakers have enthroned Prince Afolabi Ghandi Olaoye as the new Soun of Ogbomoso.

Olaoye was installed in the early hours of Friday with the crowd gathered at the palace cheering and eulogising the new monarch as he sat on the throne of his forbearers.

He arrived on Friday in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, for the ritual rite and installation as the new Soun.

Laoye was selected by Oyo State Governor, Seyin Makinde last week Saturday, to be the new Soun, the traditional stool that has been vacant since Oba Jimoh Oyewunmi Ajagungbade III, joined his ancestors on December 12, 2021.

Laoye arrived in Ogbomoso early in the morning in a private helicopter, which landed at Ogbomoso Grammar School, before moving to the palace.

Last week, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters in the state, Olusegun Olayiwola announced the selection of Laoye by the governor, after the long-drawn processes specified under the law.

“His Excellency congratulates the new Soun-elect on his ascension to the throne of his forebears,” the statement added.

It will also be recalled that the Soun of Ogbomoso stool became vacant after Oba Jimoh Oyewumi transited to the Great Beyond, on December 12, 2021.

However, some members of the family opposed the approval, thereby heading to court, arguing that he was not part of the process right from the beginning and that he shouldn’t be crowned against their wishes.

The family members instituted the suit, marked HOG/27/2022, in July 2022, against the nomination of Ghandi Olaoye by the kingmakers, citing various irregularities in the procedures that produced him thereby praying the court to, among other reliefs, set aside the nomination and to order a fresh process.

The judge, A.K. Adedokun, fixed the judgement day after Olaoye’s counsel, Oladapo Atanda, and Kolawole Fatoye, who represented Ghandi and the kingmakers adopted their processes and presented their arguments for and against the suit.

The defendants in the case include the Oyo State Governor, Oyo State Attorney General, Oyo State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Ogbomoso North Local Government, Ogbomoso North Traditional Council, and Prince Amos Olawole Olaoye (Mogaji Olaoye Ruling House) who are 1st to 6th defendants respectively.

The 7th to 11th defendants are the kingmakers: Chief S.O. Otolorin (Areago of Ogbomoso and Chairman), Chief Salawu Ajadi (Jagun), Chief Tijani Abioye (Bara), Cheif David Adeniran Ojo (Ikolaba) and Chief Yusuf Oladipupo (Abese) while Prince Ghandi Olaoye, the Soun nominee, is the 12th defendant.

The plaintiff, while claiming that the regulations guiding the nomination to fill the vacant stool of Soun Chieftaincy Ogbomoso which include the Soun Chieftaincy Declaration (1958), Ogbomoso District Native Authority Resolution (1953) and Oyo State Chiefs Law (2000) were grossly violated, sought relief that the procedure for Ghandi’s nomination was inconclusive in that a minority committee performed the task instead of the whole members of the family.

“A declaration that the procedure adopted for the nomination of candidate or candidates to fill the vacant stool of Soun of Ogbomoso Chieftaincy by the members of Laoye Ruling House through the purported 11-member screening committee was inconclusive.

“The member of the Olaoye ruling house as a family was denied their legal right of having a final say in voting and/or ratifying the aforesaid report at the time the kingmakers acted upon it, not strictly the method envisaged under the native law and custom, the Laoye ruling house as a body entitled to nominate a candidate for appointment to the stool of Soun and not by the minority of the members of the larger body.”

He wanted the court to declare that the active participation of the 4th defendant (Ogbomoso North Local Government) in the process leading to the emergence of Ghandi Olaoye rather than being a mere observer invalidates the process.

The claimant, therefore, sought orders of the court to set aside the nomination of Ghandi, noting the procedure that produces him contravenes native law and custom for the selection of a candidate for selection of a new Soun.

In addition, the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 12th defendants represented by Kolawole Fatoye, Olalekan Oguntoye and O.E. Igene filed counter-claims to which the claimant also filed defence.