The main opposition party in Osun State, the All Progressives Congress, and the state government disagreed on the emergence of new monarchs for Iree and Igbajo communities on Saturday.
The APC accused the State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, of causing a conflict in Igbajo and Iree by interfering with the choice of the legally installed monarchs of the two towns, as stated in a statement by its chairman, Tajudeen Lawal.
After an investigation by the Ademola Adeleke administration into the circumstances around the installation of monarchs appointed by the immediate past governor of the state, Adegboyega Oyetola, a white paper was released declaring vacant the stool of Aree of Iree and Owa of Igbajo and calling for a fresh selection process.
The party noted that when Adeleke’s administration faced difficulty in rallying the support of the kingmakers of Igbajo to re-select another Owa of Igbajo, it resulted in the recruitment of five non-indigenes of the town on Friday who were instantly appointed warrant chiefs.
The party further mentioned that those appointed posed as kingmakers at the Multi-purpose Conference Hall of the Local Government Service Commission, State Secretariat, Abere, Osun State, to select a new Owa of Igbajo.
The party disclosed that at the end of the re-selection exercise, Prince (Dr) Ademola Makinde, a close associate of the Adelekes, was chosen as the new Owa of Igbajo.
The party emphasized that Oba Phillips Adegboyega Famodun remains the Owa of Igbajoland as he was duly selected by the people through their kingmakers and ratified by the state government. They also added that it is a taboo for them to perform another series of traditional rites for another person when the substantive monarch is very much alive.
The APC chairman's statement urged the peace-loving people of Igbajo not to take the laws into their hands but to continue to put their hope and expectation in the hand of God and supremacy of the rule of law.
Regarding the controversies on the Aree of Iree stool, the APC cautioned Governor Ademola Adeleke not to cause crises in Igbajo and Iree.
Osun government responds
But reacting, Osun State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, asserted that the appointments made by the Adeleke administration were in line with tradition and chieftaincy laws.
On the stool of Aree of Iree, Alimi stated that the government discovered that the immediate past administration deliberately bypassed the town’s kingmakers and made use of warrant chiefs to select and approve Aree.
The White Paper stated that a fresh selection process would take place in Igbajo to enable all eligible princes from the Owa Oke Odo Ruling House to participate in a free and fair selection in the interest of fair play, equity and in line with the custom and tradition of Igbajo.
A new selection process started, and all interested princes from the eligible ruling house took part.
When it was necessary for the Igbajo Kingmakers to hold their selection meeting to appoint an Owa-elect, five surviving Kingmakers out of the six recognised by the Owa of Igbajo Chieftaincy Declaration intentionally refused to do so.
After repeatedly not attending several meetings they were invited to by the Local Council, the government had to use the provisions of Section 17 of the Chiefs Law of Osun State. This allowed the revocation of the performance of any delegated function by anyone and the appointment of other persons to perform such a delegated function.
As a result, kingmakers appointed according to law performed their duty and selected an Owa of Igbajo elect whose appointment is to be ratified by the State Executive Council.
We therefore confirmed that as a government, we acted within the law and tradition as well as in the best interest of the people of the affected towns.
Adeleke removes monarchs
In November 2022, Adeleke directed security agents to take over the palaces of Owa of Igbajo, Aree of Iree, and Akinrun of Ikirun.
The directive was one of the executive orders signed by the governor.
This act was followed by a series of protests and controversies.
However, the state government in January 2024 ordered a fresh selection process to fill the stools of Aree of Iree and Owa of Igbajo, having nullified the initial processes.
