Hours after the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, approved the appointment Abimbola Owoade as the new Alaafin, the Kingmakers and Muslim group have rejected the choice of the Canadian-based businessman, saying it is contempt of court.
The kingmakers, who were called the Oyomesi, and the Muslim Right Concern (MURIC) described the appointment made by the governor as illegal, illegitimate, unlawful, unconstitutional and the height of impunity.
Earlier on Friday, the state government announced that Makinde approved the appointment of Owoade as the new Alaafin of Oyo, two years after the position became vacant following the demise of the former monarch, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi.
Reacting to the development in a letter to the governor, signed by their lawyer, Adekunle Sobaloju, five Kingmakers from Oyomesi declared the appointment invalid, noting that they did not recommend Prince Abimbola Owoade to the state government.
The traditional kingmakers insisted that their chosen candidate for the Alaafin stool which had been vacant for over two years was Luqman Gbadegesin.
The Kingmakers, who made this declaration include High Chief Yusuf Akínade, Bashorun of Oyo; High Chief Wakeel Akindele, Lagunna of Oyo; High Chief Hamzat Yusuf, Akinniku of Oyo; Chíef Wahab Oyetunji, a 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, 1961, the Kingmakers appointed Prince Lukman Adelodun Gbadegesin as the Alaafin of Oyo by 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 as Alaafin of Oyo 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 letter read.
“Any meeting of few kingmakers and emergency warrant chiefs held at the Governor’s office on the 9th of 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 the native law and custom and Chieftaincy Declaration of Alafin of Oyo Chieftaincy but unlawful, illegal, invalid, null and void.
“It is not the duty of the Governor to convene the meeting of few kingmakers and emergency warrant chiefs to select or appoint a new Alaafin on the 9th of January, 2025 and hurriedly approve the appointment on the 10th of January, 2025.”
Corroborating the kingmakers, MURIC, an Islamic human rights organization, in a statement issued by the Chairman and Secretary of the organization in Oyo State, Abdulwaheed Lawal, and Ibrahim Agunbiade respectively, stressed that the governor acted solely against the law.
They said: “The government of Oyo State has announced the appointment of Prince Abimbola Akeem Owoade as the new Alaafin of Oyo. The Oyo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade, made the announcement today, Friday, 10th January, 2025
*“This appointment is illegal, illegitimate, unlawful and unconstitutional. It is the height of impunity. It is surprising that Governor Seyi Makinde could ignore the recent letter written by the Oyo Kingmakers, expressing their displeasure with the Governor’s attempt to restart the selection process despite a pending court case. The new selection is therefore subjudice.
“Besides, Makinde has made a caricature of the tradition and custom of the ancient town of Oyo Alaafin with this appointment. It is lawlessness without borders.”
