Group Petitions Ogun Governor, Speaker Over Ibeshe Obaship Tussle, Calls For Caution

A Peace Advocacy group, Advocacy for Advancement of Peace and Harmony in Africa Initiative (ADAPHAI) has petitioned the Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun and the Speaker of the House Assembly, Rt. Hon. Olakunle Oluomo, over the Obaship tussle in Ibeshe, Yewa North Local Government.

According to the petition, which was signed by the National Coordinator of the group, Comrade Sulaimon Suberu and received in the office of the Governor and that of the Speaker on Tuesday morning, some officials in the government were alleged to be working in connivance with certain individuals in the town to scuttle the primordial arrangement of kingship and pattern of ascendancy in the town by imposing a wrong candidate.

The petition asserted that the next ruling house, which is the Olokojobi ruling house had unanimously presented a suitable candidate according to the extant law and in line with the dictates of Ifa Oracle, in the person of
Idowu AbdulAzeez Adedimeji.

It further explained that the popular candidate was later changed unilaterally by the kingmakers and replaced with one Rotimi Mulero, which triggered protests and violent agitations in the town.

The petition read thus: “We are writing principally as a leading civil society organization in Nigeria, with mandate to ensure peaceful co-existence among different communities in Nigeria to call your attention to brewing imbroglio in the sleepy town of Ibese, in Yewa North of Ogun State, over the vacancy of the town’s stool and the dangerous move to pervert the process of replacement in line with the spirit and the letter of extant law guiding such arrangement and the inherent cultural ethos.

“To put the record straight, Paragraph C of the 1957 Registered Declaration of Aboro of Ibese states that;” Can devolve on the FEMALE line only when there are no suitable candidates (SONS) from the MALE line ”and in” the FEMALE line, the candidature is limited to the MALE descendants of the FEMALE line, in the first generation only(i.e. SONS of the DAUGHTERS).

“It may interest you to know that the process of filling the vacant stool started in 2017, in which the jurisdictional authority at Yewa North Local Government directed the next ruling house, which is the Olokojobi Rulling House to present a candidate that is ”SUITABLE” to occupy the stool, according to the stipulation of Ibese Declaration quoted above and in consultation with the rest of the family.

“After extensive consultation among the members of the Olokojobi family and with the Ifa oracle as a primordial traditional guidance, a suitable candidate, in the person of
Idowu AbdulAzeez Adedimeji was unanimously and elaborately presented to the kingmakers on the 28th January, 2018, with subsequent acceptance by the kingmakers.

“Regrettably, the event took another turn months later, as the kingmakers announced another candidate, one Rotimi Mulero, a candidate from the female line of the clan, against the letter and the spirit of the law and in conflict with the popular position of members of the family.

“Despite the complementary positions of the former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Akingbolahan Adeniran, that of the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftancy Affairs, Council of Chiefs, Market Women, Youths, and Court Cases supporting the candidature of IDOWU ABDULAZEEZ ADEDIMEJI as the SUITABLE CANDIDATE from Olokojobi Ruling House to occupy the vacant stool, the present Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Ogun State, Hon. Ogungbade, in connivance with few other elements were hell bent to subvert and manipulate the process and create serious chaos in the peaceful town.

“We considered this present development in the community as a way of exacerbating the current security situation in the state and a recipe to anarchy if not quickly address to ensure justice and fairness.

“We therefore call on you to swiftly intervene to avert breakdown of law and order, as we attached relevant documents to substantiate our claim”.