Succession crisis hits Olubadan-in-Council

A succession crisisthat may see a replay of the power play between William Shakespeare's King Richard II and Henry Bolingbroke, his cousin, appears to be brewing in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, as the Seriki chiefs in the Olubadan-in-Council have said the most senior Seriki chief will rise to become the next Olubadan of Ibadanland 'whenever it shall please God to make the position vacant.'This is just as the chiefs condemned the elevation of High Chief Omowale Kuye as the Otun Olubadan despite a subsisting court order restraining the Olubadan from filling vacancies existing in the Ekerin Olubadan and Ekerin Balogun upwards to Olubadan chieftaincy itself.Counsel for the chiefs, A.G. Adeniran, has written a petition addressed to Governor Abiola Ajimobi and copied to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the National Judicial Council and the Chief Judge of Oyo State, to drive home the agitation of his clients, led by Chief Bayo Oyediji.The petition noted that there was a clandestine plan to permanently exclude the Serikis from rising beyond their humble stations despite a precedent, as well as a court pronouncement on the matter.According to the petition, ''in comparatively recent times, the Olubadan, Abass Okunola, was promoted from Seriki to Balogun (from) whence he became Baale and later the first Olubadan. All these people crossed from Seriki to Balogun and attained the headship of Ibadanland in their respective times.'The question is how did it happen that the Seriki line, which have (sic) provided Baales and the Olubadan of Ibadanland in the past, suddenly became relegated to a 'none-throne bound' line''The chiefs said the petition became necessary in view of the setting up of an 'unregistered association called 'Ibadan Chieftaincy System Review Committee to misinform, misdirect and mislead your Excellency and the legislative house of Oyo State into taking steps to 'review' Ibadan Chieftaincy System' in contravention of court verdicts in favour of the Serikis.After citing several instances of precedents on the issue and the various pronouncements of lower and superior courts in favour of the chiefs, the petitioner said, 'be it noted that with the demise of Chief A.M.A Akinloye in 2007, it is now the turn of the most senior chief in the Seriki line to be appointed as the Olubadan after the demise of the current Olubadan.'We initially wanted to institute contempt proceedings against the Olubadan and the affected chiefs, but when we considered that the Seriki chiefs being part of the traditional chieftaincy set-up of Ibadanland, they should not be seen as dragging Ibadan chieftaincy tradition in the mud, even though the incumbents of the position have shown themselves deserving of judicial correction,' the counsel for the chiefs said.The chiefs, therefore, urged Governor Ajimobi, as an adherent of the rule of law he professed, to allow the principle of the rule prevail.
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