Oyo State government has been accused of being biased and unduly interfering in the process of selecting a successor to the vacant stool of the Alaafin of Oyo.
A candidate to the throne from the Adeitan Atiba Royal Lineage, Prince Adesina Ademola Afolabi, made the allegation in a press statement, saying the state government is not sincere by declaring that it would not interfere in the process of choosing the next Alaafin.
He, however, appealed to the state government to, in the interest of peace, allow for a free and fair selection process through which a new Alaafin that will be acceptable to and who will stand for all and sundry will emerge.
The acting governor of the state, Chief Bayo Lawal, had reportedly assured that the state government will be neutral in the process of selecting a successor to the Alaafin throne.
Recalled that the Alaafin Stool became vacant following the passage of the last occupant, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III of the Alowolodu Royal Lineage, on 22 April, 2022.
Speaking at the celebration of the World Sango Festival, held in Oyo, the acting governor, through the Special Adviser to the Governor on Culture, Honourable Akeem Ademola Ige, said state government will allow all the royal families to decide on who is to be the next Alaafin.
Reacting to the report, however, Prince Adesina Afolabi said the government is not sincere with the truth, alleging that it had already supported one of the royal families in the process of selecting the new oba.
He said the report came as a rude shock to him and the other eight nine royal, alleging that the process of choosing the next Alaafin had already been infiltrated and altered to suit a particular royal family.
Prince Afolabi said the process had been tampered with, allegedly by some agents of the state government, with the sole aim to exclude other original sons of Alaafin Abiodun Atiba, the progenitor of the Modern Oyo.
“The process of selecting a new Alaafin, which started with transparency by the Head of Oyo Royal Princes (Baba Iyaji) and Oyo Mesi in general had since been altered by the agents of the government,” he said.
The sole candidate of the Adeitan Royal Family said he was in possession of a letter in which the chairman of Atiba local Government Area sought to commence the process of picking the Crown Prince from the Agunloye Royal House.
He said the letter by the council chairman, dated 9 August, 2022, was in accordance with a directive by the Oyo State Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters to that effect.
“This is being done in exclusion of the other nine ruling houses that have been enlisted since 8 December, 1976 by the then Oyo State Military Government and Gazetted, viz the 1995 White Paper, on 16 July, 2001 by the state government during the administration of the late Governor Lamidi Onaolapo Adesina.
“The chairman of Atiba Local Government Area in the letter, through the Director of Administration and General Services, Alhaji Ayoola A.A, relied on the Oyo state Chieftancy Law of 1961 which had been declared defective since 8 December, 1976 because it is not consistent with the Customary Law governing the appointment of the Alaafin of Oyo or any oba in Yorubaland,” he said.
According to him the local government chairman, in the letter, directed the Head of the Royal Princes, Baba Iyaji, to liaise with the Agunloye family to choose a Crown Prince and present him to the Oyo Mesi, through High Chief Yusuf Ayoola, the Basorun of Oyo.
“With due respect to our Acting Governor, Chief Bayo Lawal and our darling Governor Seyi Makinde (in absentia), the directive is contrary to the claim by your aide that the Oyo State government will not interfere in the process of selecting a new Alaafin.
“What more can demonstrate the fact that the state government has, indeed, interfered in the selection process? How else can you prove that you are not interfering in the process?
“Sir, what you have done, through the letter by the chairman of Atiba Local Government Area, shows that you have, indeed, totally hijacked the process. You can only prove us wrong by publicly disowning the letter.
“As an unbiased umpire, we expect that the state government will call for the publication of [the names of] all the 119 princes that applied for the vacant Royal Alaafin Stool and the criteria for the selection process to be made public.
“This should be done in line with our tradition and also allow the Oyo Mesi to evaluate each and every applicant, based on the culture of Oyoland. I am aware that Baba Iyaji has submitted all the applicants’ letters to the Oyo Mesi, through the Basorun of Oyo.
“We are hereby appealing to the Oyo State government to allow for a free and fair selection process to give us a new Alaafin that will be acceptable to and who will stand for all and sundry,” Prince Afolabi stated in the press statement.
