The leadership crisis within the Incorporated Trustees of Articulate Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association of Ogun State (AMORAN) has escalated into a legal battle as Chief Otunba Nurudeen Aina, popularly known as Alowonle, has taken his former personal assistant, Otunba Taofeek Sokoya (Danku), to court over the chairmanship position.

Alowonle claims he was duly elected as Chairman, having served a first term and securing overwhelming support for a second term. However, he alleges that Sokoya, his personal assistant, took advantage of his temporary leave of absence to assume the leadership position.

The lawsuit, filed at the National Industrial Court in Ibadan, seeks a ruling that Sokoya’s appointment as Acting Chairman is invalid. Alowonle argues that he officially applied for a leave of absence from August 5, 2024, to December 4, 2024, to contest the chairmanship position at Sagamu Local Government Area, and that Sokoya’s emergence as Chairman was not in accordance with the association’s constitution.

According to the suit, Alowonle is requesting the court to nullify Sokoya’s swearing-in on the grounds that no vacancy existed in the AMORAN leadership. He cites Section 16(a) & (b) of the association’s provisions, maintaining that Sokoya, who was originally his personal assistant, should revert to his previous role as Vice Chairman.

Furthermore, he is seeking a court order declaring Sokoya’s appointment as an imposition and calling for it to be set aside. Alowonle also demands an injunction restraining Sokoya from parading himself as the Chairman of AMORAN in Ogun State.

The case is now before the National Industrial Court as the battle for leadership within the Ogun motorcycle riders’ association intensifies.