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Alaafin of Oyo: Kingmakers at Loggerheads With Seyi Makinde, Reject Owoade’s Appointment

Published

5 hours ago

Jan 11, 2025.

Five kingmakers have raised objections to Owoade’s appointment as Alaafin of Oyo
Oyo Kingmakers recommended Prince Lukman Gbadegesin for Alaafin Stool
The kingmakers said the meeting held on Thursday at the Governor’s Office or elsewhere to select the governor’s preferred candidate was unlawful and illegal.

The appointment of Prince Abimbola Owoade as the new Alaafin of Oyo has been met with rejection by the town’s kingmakers.

Eko Hot Blog gathered that in a letter addressed to Governor Seyi Makinde, the kingmakers declared Owoade’s appointment null and void, insisting that they never recommended him to the state government.

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Instead, they claim to have recommended Prince Lukman Gbadegesin for the position on September 30, 2022, through a lawful voting process.

Five kingmakers have raised objections to Owoade’s appointment, emphasizing that they were not involved in the process.

The five kingmakers are the Bashorun of Oyo, Yusuf Layinka; the Lagunna of Oyo, Wakeel Oyedepo, and the Akinniku of Oyo, Hamzat Yusuf.

The two others are Wahab Oyetunji, the warrant chief standing in for Asipa of Oyo, and Gbadebo Mufutau, the warrant chief standing in for Alapinní of Oyo.

“Prince Lukman Adelodun Gbadegesin, having obtained the majority of votes of the kingmakers present, was deemed appointed and 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 approve for no disclosed reason at all.

“The kingmakers thereafter filed an action to stop Your Excellency from truncating the process, which culminated in the present appeal at the Court of Appeal,” they said.

They noted they were surprised the government claimed in its announcement that Mr Owoade’s selection was made after wide consultation 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 of 1967.

“This codifies the native law and custom governing the selection process for the vacant stool of the Alaafin.

Alaafin of Oyo: Kingmakers at Loggerheads With Seyi Makinde, Reject Owoade Appointment

SEYI MAKINDE, Oyo State Governor

“Under the Registered Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy Declaration of 1967, it is only the Bashorun of Oyo, the head of the Oyomesi and Kingmakers, that can summon a meeting of the kingmakers for the purpose of selecting a candidate to fill the vacant stool of the Alaafin of Oyo.

“In this instance, the Bashorun did not summon any such meeting, nor was there any meeting convened in the Alaafin’s palace, as custom demands, where the said Prince Abimbola Akeem Owoade was selected or appointed as the new Alaafin,” they said.

The kingmakers said the meeting held on Thursday at the Governor’s Office or elsewhere to select the governor’s preferred candidate was unlawful and illegal.