Governor Seyi Makinde’s approval of Prince Abimbola Owoade as the new Alaafin of Oyo has incited anger among the Oyomesi, the kingdom’s revered kingmakers.
A statement issued yesterday by Prince Dotun Oyelade, the Oyo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, confirmed that Prince Owoade had been selected after thorough consultations and divinations. The selection was endorsed by the Oyomesi and subsequently approved by the state governor.
According to the statement, issued by the Honourable Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Ademola Ojo, the announcement was meant to resolve the social and legal disputes that had followed the passing of the previous Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, on April 22, 2022.
However, in a letter addressed to Governor Makinde yesterday, the kingmakers condemned the appointment of Prince Owoade, describing it as both illegal and unlawful.
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The kingmakers further declared the appointment null and void, emphasising that they had not recommended Prince Owoade to the state government. They insisted that the only candidate they had put forward for the Alaafin throne was Prince Luqman Gbadegesin.
The letter to the governor, which was signed by the kingmakers’ legal representative, Adekunle Sobaloju (SAN), listed the signatories as High Chief Yusuf Akínade, Bashorun of Oyo; High Chief Wakeel Akindele, Lagunna of Oyo; High Chief Hamzat Yusuf, Akinniku of Oyo; Chief Wahab Oyetunji, warrant chief stand-in for Asipa of Oyo; and Chief Gbadebo Mufutau, warrant chief stand-in for Alapinní of Oyo.
The letter reads:
“You will recall that on 30th September 2022, at the meeting of the Kingmakers, in accordance with the Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy Declaration of 1961, the Kingmakers appointed Prince Lukman Adelodun Gbadegesin as the Alaafin of Oyo by a majority of the lawful votes of the Kingmakers.
“Prince Lukman Adelodun Gbadegesin, having obtained the majority of votes of the Kingmakers present and voting, was deemed appointed, and his name was forwarded to Your Excellency as the candidate appointed by the Kingmakers 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, culminating in the present appeal at the Court of Appeal.”
The kingmakers also expressed astonishment at the government’s claim that the selection of Prince Owoade had been 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, which 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, who has the authority to 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 at the Alaafin’s palace, as custom demands, where the said Prince Abimbola Akeem Owoade was selected or appointed as the new Alaafin.
“Any meeting of a few kingmakers and emergency warrant chiefs held at the Governor’s office on 9th January 2025, or elsewhere at the instance of the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, to select the preferred candidate of the Governor as the new Alaafin, is not only contrary to native law and custom, but unlawful, illegal, invalid, null, and void.”
The letter concludes by asserting that it is not the governor’s role to convene meetings of kingmakers to select or appoint a new Alaafin.
Meanwhile, the statement previously issued by Hon. Ademola Ojo called on Oyo State’s citizens to celebrate “this momentous occasion” and support the newly appointed Alaafin.
The commissioner also expressed hopes that the new Alaafin’s reign would bring peace, prosperity, and unity to the historic Oyo Kingdom.
