By Desire Emmanuel
A royal rumble is brewing in Oyo State following the appointment of the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, as the Chairman of the Oyo State Council of Traditional Rulers on Thursday, January 15, by Governor Seyi Makinde.
The decision by the governor did not go down well and seems to have caused a serious row as the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Akeem Owoade, disclosed that he was never consulted neither was he aware regarding the appointment on a rotational basis.
This was contrary to the claim by Makinde during the announcement of Olubadan that he consulted the three foremost traditional rulers in Oyo, the Alaafin, the Soun of Ogbomosho as well as the Olubadan, informing them of the rotational arrangement.
This obviously didn’t go down well with the Alaafin who said he remained the foremost traditional ruler in Oyo State and he is supposed to be the permanent chairman of the traditional rulers council.
In fact, the angry Alaafin issued a statement on Thursday evening regarding the matter, saying he was never consulted over the rotational arrangement in the state traditional rulers council.
The statement reads: “The attention of the Alaafin’s Palace has been drawn to a statement credited to His Excellency, Governor Seyi Makinde, that he consulted with the three traditional rulers in the State, the Alaafin, the Olubadan and the Soun of Ogbomoso on the rotational Chairmanship of the State Council of Obas and Chiefs.
“The palace hereby wants to state clearly that there was no time that His Imperial Majesty, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade 1, held any meeting with either the state governor or any of the two traditional rulers mentioned above.
“Also the Alaafin did not tell the governor or make a categorical statement on his endorsement of rotational chairmanship among the the three traditional rulers in the state.
“The position of the Alaafin and the entire Oyo community on the general issue of the State Council of Obas and Chiefs has been enunciated in a memo delivered to His Excellency by the Oyo Council of Elders.”
