Five out of seven kingmakers of Oyo town have rejected the appointment of Prince Abimbola Owoade as the new new Alaafin.
The kingmakers insisted they never recommended him to Governor Seyi Makinde for appointment as the successor to the vacant throne at any time.
The five kingmakers include; Bashorun of Oyo, High Chief Yusuf Layinka; the Lagunna of Oyo, High Chief Wakeel Oyedepo, and the Akinniku of Oyo, High Chief Hamzat Yusuf .
The five kingmakers in a letter signed by their lawyer, Adekunle Sobalolu, and addressed to Governor Makinde therefore declared the appointment of Owoade as the new Alaafin as null and void; illegal and unlawful.
Prince Owoade was announced as the Alaafin-elect on Friday by the Oyo State Government.
But the kingmakers in their letter said the only person they recommended on Sept. 30, 2022, by the majority of the kingmakers’ lawful votes as the next Alaafin, was Prince Lukman Gbadegesin.
“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 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.
“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 at the Governor’s Office or elsewhere on Thursday to select the governor’s preferred candidate was unlawful and illegal.
“It is not the duty of the governor to convene the meeting of few kingmakers and emergency warrant chiefs to select or appoint a new Alaafin on the 9th of January 2025 and hurriedly approve the appointment on the 10th of January 2025,” said the kingmakers.
They, however, said they had appealed to sons and daughters of Oyo Kingdom to remain calm as they intended to challenge the action in court.
The two others are Chief Wahab Oyetunji, the warrant chief standing in for Asipa of Oyo, and Chief Gbadebo Mufutau, the warrant chief standing in for Alapinní of Oyo.
