The suspended kingmakers of Orin Ekiti in Ido/Osi
Local Government Area of Ekiti State have threatened to take legal action
against the state Governor, Kayode Fayemi, if their suspension is not reversed.
The embattled kingmakers perceived their suspension,
which led to the appointment of warrant chiefs saddled with the task of
selecting a new Olorin, as a desecration of the tradition of the town.
The selection of a new Olorin has been dogged with
crisis caused by insistence of a section of the town and chiefs that the town
has only two ruling houses, Olubunmo and Famokiti, and rejected the third one
called Ajibewa created by the government.
The suspended chiefs passed a vote of no confidence
in the appointed warrant chiefs, describing them as political tools to
destabilise the town.
The position became vacant following the demise of
Oba Oluwole Olubunmo in 2015.
Addressing journalists in Ado Ekiti on Monday, the
Onikare of Orin Ekiti, Chief Bamidele Fasuyi, and the Eletin, Chief Francis
Falua, alleged that they only heard
about their suspension on radio, which they described as Illegal, null and void
in the face of the law.
Fasuyi, who spoke on behalf of the chiefs, accused the state government of acting like a
‘Mafia’ in the handling of the obaship tussle in the town, “by allegedly
sidelining those that matter and pivotal to the selection of Oba.
"Soldiers and policemen just invaded our town,
particularly the palace and Apelua hall, where we revered as sacred places. They
forcefully went there and took away some of the paraphernalia relating to the installation
of Oba in Orin.
"In fact, just take a look at the calibre of
warrant chiefs they brought, they were nonentities.
"At the demise of the Olorin in 2015, the
local government authority wrote to us and requested that we select
someone from Ajibewa ruling house, basing it on a gazette generated in
1998 under Navy Capt Atanda Yusuf reign.
"But we replied on behalf of the town that the
twe only knew of Olubunmo and Famokiti royal dynasties, and that Ajibewa was a
product of illegality. The gazette they relied on was fake.
"The government should leave Orin alone. The
Morgan commission of enquiry of 1978 established two ruling houses, so we
didn't know where they got the 1998 gazette that overrode the Morgan’s report.
"We want our suspension reversed with
immediate effect, and if they fail to act accordingly, we will have no other option
than to go to court to seek redress.”
Fasuyi urged the state government to make public the
recommendations of the Justice Jide Aladejana Judicial Commission of enquiry on
chieftaincy issues.
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