Fresh controversy has trailed the inauguration of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, as Chairman of the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs, following indications that the Alaafin of Oyo deliberately stayed away from the event over alleged lack of consultation.
The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade, said he was never consulted by Governor Seyi Makinde before the decision to inaugurate Oba Ladoja as council chairman was taken, contradicting the governor’s public claim.
Governor Makinde had on Thursday inaugurated Oba Ladoja at the House of Chiefs, Oyo State House of Assembly complex in Agodi, Ibadan, stating that the Olubadan would preside over the council for the next two years.
The governor said the chairmanship would be rotated among the Alaafin of Oyo, the Olubadan of Ibadanland and the Soun of Ogbomoso, adding that the three monarchs were consulted and agreed that the Olubadan should take the first turn.
However, the Alaafin firmly rejected this narrative. In a statement issued by his Director of Media and Publicity, Bode Durojaiye, the Oyo palace said there was no meeting at any time between the Alaafin and the governor on the issue, nor was there any endorsement of a rotational chairmanship by the Oyo monarch.
“The attention of the Alaafin’s Palace has been drawn to a statement credited to His Excellency, Governor Seyi Makinde, that he consulted with the three traditional rulers in the state – the Alaafin, the Olubadan and the Soun of Ogbomoso – on the rotational chairmanship of the State Council of Obas and Chiefs,” the statement said.
“The palace hereby states clearly that there was no time His Imperial Majesty, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Engineer Abimbola Akeem Owoade I, held any meeting with either the state governor or any of the two traditional rulers mentioned above.
“Also, the Alaafin did not tell the governor or make a categorical statement on his endorsement of rotational chairmanship among the three traditional rulers in the state.”
The palace added that the position of the Alaafin and the entire Oyo community on the State Council of Obas and Chiefs had already been formally articulated in a memorandum submitted to the governor by the Oyo Council of Elders.
The dispute has revived longstanding sensitivities surrounding the council’s leadership. The council reportedly last met in 2011 after a prolonged leadership tussle involving the immediate past monarchs of Oyo, Ibadan and Ogbomoso, underscoring the depth of historical rivalry and protocol concerns among the traditional institutions.
With the Alaafin’s public rebuttal, the latest development is expected to intensify debate over consultation, hierarchy and procedure in the management of traditional affairs in Oyo State, even as Oba Ladoja assumes the chairmanship.
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