Controversy has continued to trail the decision of Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, to appoint Prince Abimbola Akeem Owoade as the new Alaafin of Oyo, as five kingmakers have kicked against the appointment.
The kingmakers described the appointment of Owoade as “Illegal and unlawful.”
It would be recalled that the Oyo State government had on Friday announced the appointment of a new Alaafin of Oyo, more than two years after the stool became vacant.
However, five Kingmakers from the town have declared the appointment null and void, saying that they did not recommend Owoade’s name to the state government.
They insisted that the only person they recommended as the next Alaafin was Prince Lukman Gbadegesin.
The kingmakers, who stated this in a letter addressed to the governor on Friday and signed by their lawyer, Adekunle Sobaloju (SAN), included High Chief Yusuf Akínade, Basorun of Oyo; High Chief Wakeel Akindele, Lagunna of Oyo; High Chief Hamzat Yusuf, Akinniku of Oyo; Chíef Wahab Oyetunji, warrant chief stand-in for Asipa of Oyo and Chief Gbadebo Mufutau, warrant chief stand-in for Alapinní of Oyo.
“You will recall that on September 30, 2022 at the meeting of the kingmakers in accordance with the Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy Declaration 1961, the kingmakers appointed Prince Lukman Adelodun Gbadegesin as the Alaafin of Oyo by majority of the lawful votes of the kingmakers.
“Prince Lukman Adelodun Gbadegesin having obtained the majority of votes of the kingmakers present and voting was deemed accepted.
“His name was forwarded to Your Excellency as the candidate appointed by the kingmakers as Alaafin of Oyo for your approval, which you refused to do for no disclosed reason at all.
“The kingmakers, thereafter, filed an action to stop Your Excellency from truncating the process, culminating in the present appeal at the Court of Appeal,” the letter read.
They noted that they were surprised that in the government’s announcement, it claimed that the selection was made after wide consultations and divination.
“We must emphatically state that the Alaafin is not chosen by consultation or divination, but in strict compliance with the Registered Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy Declaration, which codifies the native law and custom governing the selection process for the vacant stool of Alaafin.
“Any meeting of few kingmakers and emergency warrant chiefs held at the governor’s office on January 9, 2025 or elsewhere at the instance of the commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, to select the preferred candidate of the governor as the new Alaafin is not only contrary to the native law and custom and Chieftaincy Declaration of Alaafin of Oyo, but unlawful, illegal, invalid, null and void,” they said.
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