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The kingmakers for the Olubadan of Ibadan will again meet on Tuesday over who fills the vacant stool of the Olubadan of Ibadanland.
This was contained in a circular sighted by our reporter with reference number OAC/1/260/72 and dated January 6, 2022, signed by the secretary to the Olubadan Advisory Council, K. Liasu.
The kingmakers are to meet at the Olubadan palace at Oja’ba, Ibadan, for 11.00 am.
In the selection of a new Olubadan, there are 11 kingmakers according to the Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration of 1957 who will perform the selection rites.
These kingmakers are Otun Olubadan, Osi Olubadan, Ashipa Olubadan, Ekerin Olubadan, Balogun, Otun Balogun, Osi Balogun, Ashipa Balogun, Ekerin Balolgun, Iyalode and Seriki.
Amid the Olubadan vacant stool controversy, there are strong indications that the existing legal hurdles may affect the appointment and installation of the next Olubadan if it is not resolved.
A former Oyo State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Michael Lana, after his viral letter to Governor Seyi Makinde, maintained that a lot of things were wrong with the last meeting of the kingmakers and those things made the meeting invalid.
He said: “Firstly, under the Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration, when they want to nominate a person to become the Olubadan, the person to be nominated must not be part of the meeting.
“Senator Lekan Balogun was part of the meeting on Wednesday. That makes it seriously illegal.
“Secondly, the Iyalode, representing the womenfolk of Ibadan, must be there just to say that even Ibadan women are part and parcel of the selection process. The Iyalode was not there.
“Thirdly, the Ekarun Balogun and Ekarun Olubadan that were there are not part of the kingmakers under the Ibadan Chieftaincy Declaration.
“That is why I asked the question when news reports said 10 out of 11 chiefs endorsed and I asked ‘which 10’? The 11th person is Seriki and nobody is holding that position for now.
“Actually they are 10 and the question is ‘where are the 10? Fourthly, it is the most senior in the line that would nominate the eligible person.
“The Osi should nominate the Otun and Chief Rashidi Ladoja should have done that. Where was he? Who did the nomination? So, what they did on Wednesday was a comedy.”
Countering Lana’s position, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Yomi Aliyu, noted that there is no court case that can stop the Otun Olubadan from ascending the throne as the next Olubadan.
He argued that there was a “consent judgment” between Ladoja and the government.
Aliyu advised Makinde to confirm Lekan Balogun as the Olubadan and put an end to the controversy.