Omowumi-Abisogun Family Debunks Suit Withdrawal, Vow To Remove Oniru In Court
The family of Omowumi-Abisogun of Iruland, Lagos state, has debunked claim that they had withdrawn suit challenging the emergence of Oba Gbolahan Lawal as Oniru of Iruland.
This position was arrived at after an emergency meeting of the family, held in Lagos, saying the family has dissociated themselves from a media reports by one Monsur Babatunde-Dauda, who said he was a lawyer representing the family.
This message was said by the Head of Omowumi-Abisogun Ruling House, Alhaji Surajudeen Durosinmi, saying Babatunde-Dauda did not have the brief of the family to act as a counsel representing the family.
He said the family is a law abiding family which believe in rule-of-law, and that is why they went to court to challenge the emergence of Gbolahan, who according to him was not a member of Oniru family but an imposition of politicians.
His words: “I’m the Head of Omowumi-Abisogun Ruling worldwide. We want to bring attention of the general public to a news that we had instructed one Monsur Babatunde-Dauda, who claimed to be a lawyer representing us to withdrawing the suit challenging Gbolahan Lawal as Oniru of Lagos. He did not have our instruction to withdraw the suit because he is not a lawyer representing us.
“He is not known to us and he is not representing us. He and others who met at Iruland palace were busy body interlopers, trying to deceive Gbolahan Lawal so that they will make some money from him.
“As an elder, I’ll only advise Gbolahan Lawal to follow the path of honour and vacate the sacred palace of Oniru because he is not a member of Oniru family. He should also be mindful of charade with mission to extort money from him.
“There was no division among Omowumi-Abisogun Ruling House family. The process of removing Gbolahan Lawal through legal means is ongoing. Our choice of legal practitioner is doing his work in court. We are not interested in mortgaging our tomorrow for a pot of porridge,” Durosinmi said.
He further said claim that Omowumi-Abisogun ruling house gathered in the palace of Oniru for reconciliation with Gbolahan is a piece of lies that did not hold water. He said the family is not aware of it.
In his contribution, Olubunmi Olateju Joshua, a member of Omowumi-Abisogun ruling house said the family has resolved to reclaim the Obaship title of Oniru through judicial process.
He affirmed that decision to challenge Gbolahan was a joint decision taken by members of the family both home and abroad after wide consultations, saying that decision cannot be reverted by some people who were not aware of how the process started.
“The family of Omowumi-Abisogun jointly took the decision to challenge the imposition of Gbolahan Lawal as Oniru of Iruland. That is the final position of the family. No hungry person can change that position. We are fully committed to reclaim our family rights,” he said.
Echoing the position of speakers, Shola Amoshe, who is one of the members of Omowumi-Abisogun, frowned about action of Babatunde-Dauda, for parading himself as lawyer to Omowumi-Abisogun family.
He said Babatunde-Dauda did not represent the family in any of their matters in court, and if he has the instruction of the family sign by the head of the family or his representative he should lay it bare before the public.
“It is very said that Monsur Babatunde-Dauda who did not have the instruction of the family will now be parading himself as the family legal adviser. If he has any paper showing that he was properly briefed by the family he should show it to the public. If he has any court process indicating that his chambers is brief he should bring it to the puplic. If not he should stop the charade been carry out by him,” he said.
