Oyo State governor Seyi Makinde has sought the approval of the state House of Assembly to amend section 28 of the Oyo State Chieftaincy Law 2023 to allow traditional heads to wear beaded crowns.
The Attorney General of Oyo state and Commissioner for Justice, Professor Oyelowo Oyewo who disclosed this at a press briefing shortly after the state executive council meeting, stated that many of the requests to the state governor by traditional leaders known as Baales to wear beaded crowns at different domains across the state have remained pending for so long because of the inability of the council of Chiefs to meet.
He noted that the absence of the state Council of Chiefs which ought to interface with the governor before granting approvals for such requests have not also been able to sit for necessary deliberation over a long period of time.
The Attorney General added that these factors necessitated the proposal by the state executive council headed by governor Makinde to amend section 28 of Oyo state Chieftaincy Law in order to further improve the process.
He said the proposed amendment, when fully effective, would empower the state Governor as the sole authority without consultations with the Chiefs to grant approvals for wearing of beaded crowns.
The Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Barrister Olasunkanmi Olaleye, while shedding more light on the proposed amendment bill said, “the state executive council deliberated on section 28 sub section 1 of the Chiefs Laws of Oyo state.
“The law as it is today is that the Governor can only approve an application for beaded crown after consultations with the Oyo state Council of Obas and Chiefs but we all know that Council has not met for a very long time now and we have a lot of applications for approval of beaded crowns.
“So, that section 28 of the law has now been amended to give the governor sole authority to approve the application for beaded crown in Oyo state without consultations”.
In another development, Governor Makinde, has also constituted a 15-man Inauguration Transition Committee to ensure a seamless transition for his second term in office on May 29.
The Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr Wasiu Olatubosun who disclosed this to newsmen added that the 15-man committee is headed by the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Segun Ogunwuyi, while the Special Assistant to the Governor on Special Duties, Ms Ololade Ajibola, will serve as the secretary.
