- Safiu Kehinde
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has presented the staff of office to the newly appointed Alaafin of Oyo, Abimbola Akeem Owoade.
The governor, according to a post on X, presented the official instrument legitimising the reign of a king to the new monarch on Monday morning at the Exco Chamber of the Governor’s Office in Ibadan, the state capital.
Recall that Owoade was, on Friday, approved by the state governor as the new Alaafin two years after the demise of Alaafin Lamidi Adeyemi.
However, his appointment had sparked controversies as a faction of the Oyomsei Kingmakers declared Owoade’s appointment illegal.
NPO reported that the faction of the Oyomesi, spearheaded by the Basorun of Oyo, Yusuf Akinade, declared the appointment by Governor Seyi Makinde as null and void.
The five kingmakers include Yusuf Akinade, the Basorun of Oyo; Wakeel Akindele, the Lagunna of Oyo; Hamzat Yusuf, the Akinniku of Oyo; Wahab Oyetunji, a warrant chief standing in for the Asipa of Oyo; and Gbadebo Mufutau, a warrant chief standing in for the Alapinni of Oyo.
They reportedly held that they did not recommend such a name to the state government, stressing that the only person they recommended as the next Alaafin is Prince Luqman Gbadegesin.
The kingmakers, in a letter issued few hours after Owoade’s declaration as new Alaafin, expressed their surprise with the announcement by the government.
Citing the Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy Declaration of 1967, the Oyomesis stated that 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 contrast to claims of consulting divinations to determine the new King, the Oyomesi emphasized that the Alaafin is not chosen by consultation or divination but in strict compliance with the Registered Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy Declaration of 1967.
“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, which codifies the native law and custom governing the selection process for the vacant stool of the Alaafin.” The letter read.
The kingmakers maintained that it is not the governor’s duty to appoint the new Alaafin as they declared Owoade’s appointment null and void.