By Correspondent in Ibadan.
As the people of Ibadan,Oyo state and Nigerians at large mourn the death of the 41st Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji who joined his ancestors on Monday at 93, controversy has set over the naming of the 42nd Olubadan of Ibadan land.
A former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Michael Lana,has raised objection to the claim that the next in line to the Olubadan, Senator Lekan Balogun, should be the next Olubadan of Ibadan land.
Our Correspondent reports that Lana’s objection is coming on the heels of the belief in many quarters that Balogun should step in as the next Olubadan.
Lana,in in his petition to Governor Seyi Makinde, dated January 3, 2022, blamed the former Governor of the state, the late Abiola Ajimobi, who he noted was not conscious of the legal implications of installing Baales as Obas in Ibadanland, when he effected the action.
The legal practitioner reminded Makinde that his predecessor in office, without thinking of the legal effects of his actions on the future of Ibadan traditional institution, conferred the title of Obaship on some high chiefs and Baales and gave them the right to wear beaded crowns and coronets in 2017.”
Lana recalled that the conferment was nullified by Aiki J, a high court judge, for being in contravention of both the chiefs’ law and the Ibadan chieftaincy customary law.
“However, the court of appeal in Appeal No.CA/111/99/ 2018 set aside the said Judgment of Aiki J on technical grounds without touching on the merit of the case and sent the case back for retrial.
“Upon Your Excellency’s assumption of office, it was resolved that the matter be settled amicably and the same was settled through the instrumentality of a Terms of Settlement which became the judgment of the court.
“The said Terms of Settlement recognised the illegality of the said actions and therefore set aside the gazettes by which the said chiefs became Obas with a right to wear beaded crowns and coronets.
“These high chiefs and Baales were dissatisfied with this consent judgment and therefore instituted two separate suits to set aside the consent judgment while at the same time clinging to the title of Obas (which is in contempt of court).
“One of these cases is Suit No: Suit No. I/ 22/ 2020-HRM Oba (senator) Lekan Balogun & Ors,” he added.
Lana said that his objection was also based on the fact that, Balogun and some High Chiefs had been crowned as Obas during the administration of the late Abiola Ajimobi and as such, Governor Makinde should not install Balogun as the next Olubadan of Ibadan land, to avoid crisis.
He argued that there was no where in the history of Yoruba land that someone crowned as an Oba would be elevated to become another Oba, adding that since Balogun had been crowned as an Oba, he is not qualified to be the next Olubadan of Ibadan land.
According to him,the Olubadan chieftaincy declaration of 1957 has not been amended, adding that as long as that remains extant, no Oba can ascend the throne of Olubadan.
“In other words, as long as the High Chiefs still cling to the title of Oba, they cannot ascend to that throne and any installation of any of them during the pendency of that suit is illegal, null and void,”he stressed,” according to Lana.
Meanwhile, members of the Olubadan-in-Council rose from their two-hour long closed-door meeting on Monday, declaring that they would follow tradition in installing the 42nd Olubadan of Ibadanland, regardless of Obaship elevation.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
