At last, Oluwo appears before Osun court, apologises

The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, has eventually appeared before an Osun State Magistrate Court in Osogbo hearing the suit filed against him by the Oluwo Oke of Iwo Oke, Oba Kadiri Adeoye.

Oba Akanbi appeared personally in court on Wednesday before Magistrate Falilat Sodamade, whom the case was transferred to after the former presiding magistrate, Mr. Olusola Aluko, withdrew on January 6.

The monarch submitted a letter of apology to the court concerning some of the statements credited to him in the media which prompted Aluko to issue an arrest warrant against him in December 2016.

Although the monarch defied the order but his chief, who were present in court on January 6, apologised on his behalf and said he (the monarch) could not come to court that day because he was indisposed.

One of the counsels for the petitioner, Yusuf Oladele, told the court on Wednesday that Oba Adeoye had filed a notice of discontinuance in the application before the court.

Counsel for the defendant (Oluwo), Mr. Olaide Yekini, while addressing the court, confirmed receiving the notice of discontinuance in the matter.

He said, “I urge this honourable court to give effect to the withdrawal of the application and consider the letter of apology dated February 15, 2017, written by Oba Akanbi to the court.”

The magistrate called the author of the letter to stand up to confirm it.

Oba Akanbi stood up and told the court that he was the author of the letter, adding that he never meant to disrespect the court because he was a friend of the court.

Oba Akanbi said, “I am a friend of the judiciary and I will always be. When there was a threat to close down the Iwo High Court due to poor infrastructure, I used my own personal money to renovate it and this runs into millions of naira.

“I want to tell the court that all that happened during the matter was due to misinformation. My feeling towards that effect has been expressed in the letter before the court.”

In her ruling, the magistrate granted the request for the discontinuation of the case and struck out all the matters related to it.

Oba Akanbi said in an interview with journalists on the premises of the court that he would never disrespect the judiciary.