Chieftaincy Officials Accused of Selling Titles to Highest Bidders in Osun State
In a shocking exposé, a prince of the Ademuyiwa Ruling House has accused officials of the Osun State Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs of selling chieftaincy titles to the highest bidders. The allegations were made during a press briefing on Wednesday in Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria.
According to the prince, Prince Adeoye, the chieftaincy officials have been taking advantage of their status to pervert the course of justice and have total disregard for the provisions of the extant laws of the land. He also revealed that several letters written and petitions submitted on the subject were deliberately ignored.
The dispute began with the inclusion of Omomimi as the fifth ruling house, which Adeoye described as "the beginning of the chieftaincy dispute". The Awodeyi’s four ruling houses (Metiku, Falade, Ademuyiwa, and Atere) resisted the inclusion, leading to the setting up of the Abegunde’s Commission of inquiry, and the findings were published, stating that there were four ruling houses for the sooko of Ikire chieftaincy: Ademuyiwa, Falade, Metiku, and Atere.
Adeoye expressed surprise that the two rejected ruling houses (Momimi and Molaja) by the J.B. Abegunde Commission in 1958 were now being made the only two ruling houses by a recent counter declaration. "It is laughable and illogical," he stated.
The prince insisted that anything outside the originally recognised four ruling houses is "ill motivated" and urged the Osun State Government to intervene urgently to avert a pending crisis in the town. "The records must be put straight to avoid misinformation and perpetration of falsehood," Adeoye emphasized.
According to Adeoye, "The truth which has been affirmed and reaffirmed historically and legally is that the SOOKO OF ITAAKUN can only be occupied by the four ruling houses as earlier mentioned. We are aware of the defective Declaration being flaunted by the fake two ruling houses. We need to state unequivocally that the defective Declaration as recently promulgated was surreptitiously procured while they were unlawfully alienating family properties, and the Court of Appeal and the state refused to admit the defective Declaration in evidence, just as the High Court refused to admit same."
Since the matter is in court, government officials issuing contrary documents have committed contempt of court. With tensions running high, Prince Adeoye’s assertions are likely to spark more debate and potentially escalate the dispute.
