Nigeria Content Online

Oyo State
traditional rulers on Wednesday faulted the decision of the state
government to make the chairmanship seat of their monarchs council
rotational.

In what was
perceived as a vendetta against the Alaafin of Oyo, Lamidi Olayiwola
Adeyemi III who worked against his re-election, the state governor,
Adebayo Alao-Akala, on Tuesday, signed into law an amended bill
hurriedly passed by the state house of assembly which purported to
strip the Oyo king of the permanent leadership of the Obas’ council.

The frosty
relationship between the Alaafin and the governor was said to be
responsible for the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) woeful loss in
recent elections in all the three local governments under the domain of
the monarch.

The amended bill,
as passed by the legislators and assented to by the governor, stripped
the Alaafin of his status as the permanent chairman of the council. It
instead, made it rotational between the monarch, the Olubadan of Ibadan
land and the Soun of Ogbomoso.

It also provides
for a rotational status of vice chairmanship of the council among the
Olugbon of Orile-Igbon, the Eleruwa of Eruwa, the Okere of Shaki and
the Aseyin of Iseyin. Tenure in each of the categories lasts two years.

Rising from an
emergency meeting at the palace of the Alaafin yesterday, the monarchs
noted that the governor erred by the action, adding that the headship
of the council remained under litigation and the governor and the state
house of assembly are parties to the matter.

In a communiqué
issued at the end of their meeting yesterday and read by the Olugbon of
Ile-Igbon, Samuel Osungbade, the traditional rulers said they were
amazed by the news, adding that the “purported amendment cannot and
will not stand the test of time”.

The Olugbon said
the council had spotted more than 10 fundamental errors in the amended
law, saying the Alaafin would address them in due course.

Follow due process

Oba Osungbade
explained that since the issues relating to the council are still in
court, the government had only embarked on an exercise in futility.

According to him,
the law gave the governor and the legislators away as resorting to self
help when they are parties to the yet-unresolved suit.

“Since the state
government and the state house of assembly are parties to the court
case, they were not expected to resort to self-help as shown by the
step they took on Tuesday,” he said. “We advise all aggrieved
politicians in the state to always use legal means to seek redress
rather than self help.”

The monarchs
however congratulated the state governor-elect, Abiola Ajimobi and
other winners of the just concluded general elections and pledged their
support for them.

“In any contest,
there must be winners and losers. The electorate have given their
verdicts. We appeal to all to accept the verdicts as declared by the
INEC,” the king said. “Those who are aggrieved should seek legal
redress. There can only be progress and stability in an atmosphere
devoid of violence. We shall assist the new governor to achieve.”