Succession tussle: I paid N170,000 in 2007 to late Oba Odulana for promotion but…

0
386

Succession tussle: I paid N170,000 in 2007 to late Oba Odulana for promotion but…
By; Bayo Akamo, Ibadan.
The crisis over the Olubadan succession tussle deepened at the weekend as the head of the Seriki line, Chief Adebayo Oyediji declared that he paid N170, 000 in 2007 to the late Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade I, for his promotion as Seriki Olubadan.
Chief Oyediji stated this while reacting to the claim of the Ashipa Balogun Olubadan, High Chief Tajudeen Ajibola, that he is the Osi Seriki during a chat with newsmen at his Monatan office.
The head of Seriki lineage said contrary to the claim by the Olubadan in council that he is Otun Seriki, he applied to be promoted as Seriki but was denied despite his financial commitment.
Emphasizing that although there was no receipt issued him for the N170, 000 payment, Chief Oyediji said he had a copy of the application letter, notifying that the Olubadan in council denied him the opportunity to become the Seriki and probably the future Olubadan.
“I applied to be elevated to the post of Seriki Olubadan as the next Chief to the late Adisa Akinloye, but the application was rejected after paying N170, 000. I ought to have been promoted, but the Olubadan-in Council refused to promote me as the next Seriki,” he said.
Chief Oyediji maintained that the Seriki line was in position to produce the next Olubadan going by the available records but that his “line was sidelined by some chiefs for their selfish interests.”
It will be recalled that the Olubadan in Council last Thursday disowned the claim by the Head of Seriki Line in Ibadanland, Chief Adebayo Oyediji, that he is the next qualified candidate for the vacant stool.
Speaking through the Ashipa Balogun of Ibadanland, High Chief Abimbola Tajudeen Ajibola, the Olubadan in Council declared that there was no Seriki and that nobody could present himself for installation unless the Council does so to Governor Abiola Ajimobi.
“It is undisputed that the current High Chief qualified to be Olubadan
is High Chief S. A. Adetunji. That is the authentic one. No other one. Any other one is a counterfeit. You know in this our institution, we have lines and there are only two lines recognized so far, both by law and otherwise. It is Otun Olubadan line and Balogun line, and that is all. There is no third Line. Nobody is competent to say he can be Olubadan. He cannot appoint himself; he cannot put himself there,” he said.
High Chief Ajibola pointed out that the Olubadan in council is not aware of any Supreme court judgment on the Olubadan stool, adding, “we are not aware of any judgment that Chief Oyediji is claiming because at the moment there is no Seriki or whatsoever.
“Even, the 1959 declaration law which he quoted says that ‘if there are two vacancies in one line’. No other judgment can overrule the law. That is the law, basically. So, we have no Seriki now. The only Seriki we knew then was Akinloye and he died long time ago. There is no execution, there is nothing, no awareness. How can they say they want to be Olubadan? Who is going to sign for them? It is under the tradition that we have two Lines: the Otun Line and the Balogun Line. All members of the Council would sign for whosoever to be proposed. Who is going to sign for them?
He stressed further that “the governor will not even sign for them” saying, “whoever we present to be Olubadan as kingmakers is what the governor will follow. Are they going to sign for themselves? They are not part of our meetings. We have never had any meeting with them. They have not been
promoted.
“What they should do, they should do it right away in time. They have not asked the Olubadan before he was deceased to promote them. So, who is laying claim to what? There is nobody competent so far”.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here