[size=18pt]Oyo monarchs reject rotational chairmanship, back Alaafin[/size]

MEMBERS of the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs may be heading for a showdown with Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala over the headship of the obaship council, as they have rejected Tuesday’s amendment of the council’s law, which makes the chairmanship of the group rotational.

Rising from an emergency meeting at the Alaafin’s palace in the ancient Oyo town, the royal fathers, in a communiqué, dismissed the purported amendment, describing it as “an exercise in futility.”

Present at the meeting were the Iba of Kishi, Oba Moshood Oyewole Lawal, Onjo of Okeho, Oba Rafiu Osuolale Mustapha, Okere of Saki, Oba Olatoyese Kilani Olarinre II, Sabiganna of Iganna, Oba Soliu Azeez Agunloye IV.

Others were Bashorun of Oyo, Olokaka of Okaka Oba Azeez Ayoola, Onigbeti of Igbeti, Oniware of Iware, Aresa-Adu of Iresa Adu and the Oloje of Oje-Owode.

Governor Alao-Akala had on Tuesday signed the amendment law which stripped the Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, of the permanent headship of the council.

The new law makes the chairmanship position rotational among the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Soun of Ogbomosoland and the Alaafin of Oyo in that order while the council’s deputy chairmanship is also to be rotated among the Olugbon of Orile-Igbon, Eleruwa of Eruwa, Okere of Saki and Aseyin of Iseyin for a period of two years.

In the communiqué read by the Olugbon of Orile-Igbon, Oba Samuel Osunbade, on behalf of the council members, the royal fathers said apart from the fact that the subject matter was already an issue before the court, they have discovered about 10 fundamental errors in the amendment law.

Describing the governor’s action as incapable of standing the test of time, the council noted that since the state government and House of Assembly were parties to the court case, any action taken during the pendency of the suit was a nullity.

The council also congratulated the state governor-elect, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, over his victory at the polls. It called on any aggrieved candidates in the general elections to seek redress in court and not resort to self-help by taking laws into their hands.

The monarchs wrote: “In any contest, there must be winners and losers. The electorate had given their verdicts. We appeal to all to accept the verdicts as declared by the INEC. Those who are aggrieved should seek legal redress. There can only be progress and stability in an atmosphere devoid of violence.”



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