An attempt to fill the vacant throne of the Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti has sparked tension in the second largest town in Ekiti State. While princes and princesses in three ruling houses are opposed to the selection of Adejimi Adu as the Ogoga-elect on one hand, fresh controversy erupted over the actual number of ruling houses in the community. ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA reports.
Ikere Ekiti, the second largest town in Ekiti State, is currently on the edge on who is the next occupant of the royal seat, the Ogoga throne.
The last Ogoga of Ikere, Oba Samuel Adegoke Adegboye, joined his ancestors on August 22 last year after reigning for 43 years.
The town experienced unprecedented development during Adegboye’s reign and grew in infrastructural development and population.
It is strategically located between two state capitals- Akure in Ondo State and Ado-Ekiti in Ekiti State-and is also popularly referred to as the gateway into Ekiti land.
The Ogoga throne is one of the most sought-after in Ekiti State because it is a first-class seat that has many privileges.
The occupant of the throne belongs to the exclusive class of “Pelu-Pelu Obas” who are regarded as the most pre-eminent Obas in Ekiti State and they are 16 in number.
Ikere is a one-town local government area and the five per cent from the local government allocation goes to the traditional council which is headed by the Ogoga.
These are some of the perks that make the throne of the Ogoga and other first-class kingship seats attractive.
As it is normal when a king dies in Yoruba land, there is always bitter struggle among princes of various ruling houses in a bid to occupy the throne.
Moves to install a successor to Oba Adegboye is turning brothers against brothers and sisters against sisters in Ikere as various interest groups are working hard to ensure that their candidate wins the royal trophy.
Some kingmakers have selected one of the contestants for the throne, Samuel Adejimi Adu, as the Ogoga-elect, maintaining that his election was in line with the tradition of the community.
But the selection did not go down well with princes and princess of Ikere who are claiming that Adu did not belong to any of the ruling houses in the town.
They alleged that the selection of Adu was an attempt to impose him on the community.
As the crisis rages, allegations of bribery are flying around as some kingmakers are being accused of having their palms greased to favour Adu over other candidates but the concerned kingmakers have denied the allegations.
Three ruling houses in Ikere Ekiti have called on Governor Ayo Fayose to avert a breakdown of law and order in the community following Adu’s election as the Ogoga-elect.
The alleged imposition of Adu, whom they claimed is not a member of any of the three ruling houses eligible to produce the next Ogoga, is already causing tension in the town.
The Princes and princesses (the Omo Owas) in the three ruling houses of Akayejo, Agabaola and Ogbenuote said the alleged imposition violates the State Chieftaincy Law and the tradition of the town which forbids the enthronement of a non-member of the royal family.
They called for the annulment of Adu’s selection and commencement of a fresh process of selecting the next Ogoga of Ikere in line with relevant laws of the land, maintaining that the candidate must come from the recognised ruling houses.
Speaking at a press briefing on Monday attended by all the Omo Owas at the Ogoga Palace, their spokesman, Ebenezer Ojo Ologundoye, claimed that Adu was foisted on the community by members of the Ikere Development Forum (IDF).
He described the alleged imposition as “illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional and very strange to the Ikere customs and traditions” adding that a faction of kingmakers carried out the selection of Adu.
Ologundoye revealed that the state government has warned all parties in the kingship crisis to stay action on the selection process but expressed anger that 14 out of 21 kingmakers defied government’s directive and went ahead to select Adu as the Ogoga-elect.
According to him, the Omo Owas are not happy with the sharp division of the kingmakers into two factions which he said was masterminded by the members of the IDF in their bid to impose their candidate as the monarch of the town.
The Omo Owas’ spokesman said the flawed selection process may not stand the test of legal scrutiny as the town cannot stand the ignominy of having its Oba removed by the court of law owing to violation of relevant constitutional and traditional laws.
He said: “To say the least, Mr. Samuel Jimi Adu, is not a member of any of the ruling houses, but surprisingly he is claiming to be a member of Ogbenuote Ruling House, whereas he has no link with that royal family and neither is he a prince at all, which means this selection has no place in history and in law.
“As a matter of fact, no selection process was conducted by the Ogbenuote Ruling House, some few people just handpicked and foisted on the family some powerful indigenes and this had sparked widespread resentment thereby culminating in some protest letters to the Governor, the State Attorney-General and Speaker of the State House of Assembly, among others.
“Rather than for the kingmakers to consult the oracle in line with customs and tradition, they came up with a list of 14 kingmakers out of 21 traditional kingmakers.
“Even two of the kingmakers refused to sign, sensing danger in the high level of partisanship and illegality embarked upon by the kingmakers”
The families contended that it was alien to tradition of the town for IDF, which was a town development group to dabble into obaship issue, branding such attempt as unconstitutional and brazen display of ego.
However, 11 out of the 14 kingmakers have unanimously upheld the selection of Adu as the Ogoga-elect, maintaining that his selection followed due process as stipulated by the extant laws on chieftaincy matters in the state.
The kingmakers, who flayed media report which claimed that the screening process was fraudulent, insisted that the exercise was carried out through the consultation of the Ifa Oracle and voting in the presence of two representatives of each of the royal houses and a government representative.
Speaking with reporters on the issue, with the other 10 kingmakers in attendance, the head of the kingmakers, the Sao of Ikere Ekiti, Chief James Omotosho noted that the appointment of an Oba is a sacred matter.
The High Chief condemned resort to the media by those he referred to as “disgruntled elements” within the town in a bid to win the Ogoga stool, noting that such move was “satanic and aimed at truncating the existing peace in the community for selfish reasons.
“Fighting a sacred war which one has failed to win through the due ‘process’ by hiring the media is an insult to our tradition and this belittles our revered throne before the whole world.
“If anyone is boasting of any media affiliation, he should use such connection to recruit our teeming unemployed youths into the media rather than using the media to steal his way into a position God has not given to him”, Omotoso affirmed.
Omotoso also stated that the claim that the 14 kingmakers which presided over the screening exercise that produced Adu were not the authentic kingmakers was baseless as no one could attain the position of a kingmaker by favour or any form of manipulation.
He further said: “What do they actually want? The Ifa Oracle was consulted in the presence of everyone. Out of the six contestants shortlisted, his ‘ifa’ was the best.
“To fulfill all righteousness, we went into voting. He got 11votes while Prince Oyebanji Olajuyin had three, others had no vote. If we are not authentic, how come they subjected themselves to be screened by us?”
Also, the head of Agirlala-Ogbenuote Ruling House, Chief Abioye Ojo a.k.a Atewologun had bluntly refuted the claim that the Ogoga-elect is not an offspring of the royal family, noting that his father was once a family head of the lineage whose legacies of good leadership and selflessness were immense.
He frowned at the use of Ogoga palace as a platform for a media campaign by a group of people, a matter which he noted had become an issue of concern and worry among the people.
Ojo noted that tradition however provided occupying the throne on the interim, before the emergence of a new king to be neutral and not to desecrate the primordial tenets of non-alignment throughout the transition period.
He said: “Those who are saying those things are rather drunk and beclouded by their thirsts for offices.
“His father was a family head around 1991.When even he, (the father) died, his children presented to the family a live cow which we all slaughtered and ate to celebrate his father in line with our tradition.
“If they have a genuine claim, why have they not raised this alarm before his emergence?”
ln the same manner, the Ologotun of lkere Ekiti , Chief Emmanuel Olajide under whose directive the Ifa Oracle was consulted according to the tradition has warned on the need to allow peace to reign in the town and the entire state.
Olajide said: “The whole exercise took place in my presence. The Secretary to the Local Government, Mr. Wale Olanipekun, the heads and Secretaries of each ruling house were there.
“Everything was transparent. All these claims are afterthought and not good enough for Ikere and Ekiti State at large. We are tired of crisis in this state. It is our prayer that none of these mischief makers would plunge us into one.”
Olajide also flayed the bribery allegation leveled against the kingmakers, describing it as spurious and unfounded. He noted that it is the custom to always stigmatise wealthy people in the name of bribery as a result of their economic wherewithal.
He contended: “Those that claimed that we took bribes should show their proofs. Such accusation is baseless and spurious.
“If we vote 20 times, we are still going to vote the same man who the Ifa Oracle has chosen. We cannot bend the tradition because of some people’s selfish interests.”
The kingmakers, who described the state Governor Fayose as a lover of the town, urged the government to announce the result of the screening exercise presented to it in the interest of peace.
Another dimension has been added to the Ikere kingship crisis as one of the royal households in the community, a branch of the Agirilala Ruling House, has denied the existence of three royal households in the community.
The Adetoye, Aderiyele and Adeluyi Royal Families of the Agirilala House of Ikere-Ekiti, in a statement made available to newsmen said there were “attempts to misrepresent history and stand fact on its head.”
They also described the scenario as “an act capable of misleading all descendants of Ogoga and Ikere indigenes at large.”
In the statement signed by Adedapo Akomolafe for Adetoye family; Moses Jegede for Aderiyele family and Adebayo Afuye for Adeluyi family, the royal families said going by an extant Court of Appeal judgment, “there are only two ruling houses in Ikere.”
According to them, the old Ondo State Government had, in a White Paper issued in July 1981, approved two ruling houses namely Agirilala and Akaiyejo, adding that “dissatisfied with the government position, the late Chief Samuel Adetifa, the then Akapinsa and a member of Agabaola branch instituted a suit No: HCR/24/82 at Ikere High Court on behalf of Agabaola and Ogbenuote branches.”
They said the court, presided over by Justice R.O. Fawehinmi, on November 3 , 1988 delivered judgment in favour of the plaintiff “to the effect that there are three ruling houses in Ikere namely Akaiyejo, Agabaola and Ogbenuote.”
They, however, stated that “government and the late Prince Gabriel Jegede, representing Agirilala Ruling House, appealed against the judgment at the Court of Appeal, Benin in appeal No: CA/B/276/90.”
They said: ”The Appeal Court in Benin in a unanimous decision on September 28
1992, allowed the appeal, struck out the plaintiff/respondent’s suit before the lower court and upheld the position of the government White Paper of July 1981 that there are two ruling houses namely:Agirilala and Akaiyejo.”
According to them, Agabaola and Ogbenuote branches did not appeal against the judgment, therefore the judgment subsists till date,” and contended that since they did not appeal against the judgment since 1992, they could not “suddenly wake up now raking up sentiment claiming that there are three ruling houses.”
While claiming that “the kingmakers had no power to screen or disqualify any candidate under any guise,” they alleged that “the action of the kingmakers in disqualifying six of the 12 contestants suggested that they were acting the script of their paymaster(s).”
They also called on Governor Ayo Fayose to “outrightly cancel the already suspended selection process and order a fresh process whereby all the contestants will be presented to the Ifa Oracle” saying this was “to forestall any manipulation.”
Government has kept a studied silence on the Ikere kingship crisis but the residents are concerned that the earlier it is resolved, the better for all the stakeholders concerned.
