Olufon Stool: Adeleke’s Govt Satanic, Disrespecting Judiciary – Ruling House
The appointment of Prince Oluwole Peter Akinyooye as the new Olufon of Ifon has sparked protests in the community.
Akinyooye, whose appointment was announced last week Thursday, hails from Morounfolu ruling house of Ifon, headquarters of Orolu local government of Osun State.
There have been several protests against his appointment, especially from the Odunolu ruling house.
The ruling house accused Governor Ademola Adeleke and his Chief of Staff, Alh. Kazeem Akinleye, of manipulating the selection process and flouting the court injunction on the stool.
Describing the Adeleke administration as satanic, the ruling house accused the governor of disrespecting the judiciary by making an appointment on the Olufon stool despite an existing court order.
The spokesperson of the ruling house, Prince Tajudeen Gboyega, said it was wrong for Adeleke to have used the 1988 Chieftaincy Declaration on Olufon Stool for the appointment of a new monarch.
Gboyega noted that the 1988 declaration had been repealed by a state high court, stating that it is not a valid document to use for the appointment of a new Olufon.
He said: “Governor Adeleke has taken the wrong step on the appointment of Olufon. The person appointed is from the Morounfolu ruling house, and by the 1979 declaration, it is not the turn of Morounfolu to produce Olufon.
“They are two chieftaincy declarations on Olufon; the one made in 1979 which recognizes five independent ruling houses was made during the reign of Oba Olagunju Akinyooye, the father of this imposed Olufon-elect. There was an interregnum in 1985 due to the passage of Oba Akinyeoye.
“In 1988, another chieftaincy declaration was made, which grouped the five ruling houses into two, three on one side and two on the other side. The Laojo ruling house has Morounfolu and our ruling house, Odunolu, while the Orisatoyinbo has three ruling houses, Olumoyero, Orisatoyinbo and Oluyeyin.
“When we thought that it was improper to make a chieftaincy declaration during the period of interregnum, we approached the court and in 1994, the 1988 declaration was upturned by Justice Olowoofoye of blessed memory, and that judgment was not appealed till date.
“That was the reason former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola used the existing 1979 declaration to appoint the immediate past Oba. The administration of Adegboyega Oyetola also cued into that 1979 declaration to write the Odunolu ruling house to produce a candidate in 2021.
“But the satanic government of Governor Adeleke went back to the 1988 declaration that had been declared improper, all in the name of politics, that it was Oyetola’s administration that gave us a letter and anything done by Oyetola, whether good or bad, he doesn’t want to see it.”
Asked why his ruling house didn’t produce a candidate for Olufon after a letter had been written to it by the Oyetola’s administration, Gboyega said: “A day to the selection, of the new Olufon from our ruling house, a directive came from the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs that we should stop the process because of the controversies on the Akinrun’s appointment.
“The Morounfolu ruling house used the opportunity of the stoppage of the selection process to approach the court that it was not comfortable with the 1979 declaration.
“We are already in court, and the court had issued an injunction that nobody must do anything on the Olufon stool until the determination of the case. The state government is well-represented in the case.
“This desperate family of Morounfolu ruling house had sensed defeat on the case; they resorted to manipulating their ways into power, in connivance with the Chief of Staff. The Adeleke administration manipulated the process on the Olufon stool and disrespected the judiciary for not honouring the injunction on the stool.”
Ismaeel Uthman is an Editor, Media Consultant with over 14 years experience in print journalism.
A consummate writer and reporter, Uthman has received accolades for his works, especially one that appeals for good governance and community development. He is a recipient of many laurels, including the Best Investigative Reporter (Print) Award of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Osun State Council, in 2020.
