A traditional leadership dispute in Bolorunduro, Ondo East Local Government Area of Ondo State, has intensified after Oba-elect Samuel Fawehinmi asked a state High Court to stop the installation of Professor Thompson Akinifesi as the community’s monarch.
Fawehinmi is challenging the state government’s decision to approve Akinifesi’s appointment, arguing that the move was made while a case concerning the contested traditional stool remained before the court.
The dispute places the administration of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa at the centre of a legal contest over who should occupy the Bolorunduro throne and whether the appointment process should proceed before the court determines the pending claims.
According to a report by Punch Newspapers, the Ondo State Executive Council recently approved Akinifesi’s appointment, prompting Fawehinmi to seek an order reversing the decision and preventing the proposed installation.
Fawehinmi told the court that he had received a letter of appointment during the administration of the late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu in 2022 and argued that the latest decision disregarded his claim to the stool.
Through his lead counsel, Thompson Akinyemi, the claimant maintained that the government should not have appointed another contender while the matter was still under judicial consideration.
He asked the court to set aside the government’s decision and recognise him as the eligible oba-elect of Bolorunduro, alongside granting applications he had previously submitted in the case.
The dispute has roots in an earlier appointment process conducted under the Akeredolu administration, when Fawehinmi said he was selected for the traditional position and received an appointment letter dated November 2022.
A report published by Tribune in September stated that Fawehinmi had challenged the government’s approval of Akinifesi and warned that making a fresh appointment while the litigation remained unresolved could deepen divisions within the community.
The earlier report also identified the case as Suit No. HOD/53/2023 and said Fawehinmi and other claimants had asked the court to declare their entitlement to the traditional stool and restrain the government from appointing another person.
However, the state government has disputed aspects of the claim, maintaining in its defence that no valid appointment letter had been issued to any of the claimants and challenging the basis on which Fawehinmi said he had been appointed.
That disagreement places the validity of the earlier appointment process, the authority behind the competing nominations and the government’s role in resolving the chieftaincy dispute among the issues requiring legal scrutiny.
During the latest proceedings, counsel representing Akinifesi, Gbenga Akinbinu, argued that the government had committed no wrongdoing and urged the court to reject the claimant’s position.
The competing arguments mean the court has yet to resolve the central disagreement over who is entitled to occupy the traditional stool, while the government’s approval of Akinifesi has added urgency to Fawehinmi’s request for judicial intervention.
Chieftaincy disputes can carry consequences beyond the individuals seeking traditional office, particularly when competing claims divide ruling houses, kingmakers and community members over the legitimacy of an appointment.
In Bolorunduro, the controversy has raised concerns about the relationship between traditional selection procedures, government approval and the authority of courts to determine disputes involving contested appointments.
Fawehinmi has argued that proceeding with the installation before the case is resolved would undermine the judicial process, while the defence has urged the court not to accept his allegations against the government and the competing appointee.
The court’s eventual determination will be important in clarifying the status of the rival claims and the legal effect of the government’s appointment decision.
For now, neither the claimant’s allegations nor the competing defence arguments should be treated as a final judicial finding on the legitimacy of either contender.
After hearing submissions from both sides, Justice Bolatito Ajibade adjourned the case to November 24, 2026, for further proceedings.
The adjournment leaves the Bolorunduro traditional stool at the centre of an unresolved legal contest, with the next hearing expected to bring the parties back before the court as they continue to press their respective positions.