Gov Makinde Not Involved In Eleesade Obaship Tussle, Prince Oyeniyi Counters Opponents

As the obaship crisis in Eesade, one of the sleepy Ogbomoso towns in Ogo Oluwa Local Government Area of Oyo State continued to fester, one of the contenders, Prince Olusegun Oyeniyi, has cautioned those involved in the November 7th, 2023 illegal selection process not to drag the name of the State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, into the wranglings.

Oyeniyi stated this during an interview with journalists, insisting that the governor is not part of any scheme to deny any of the contenders fair play during the process.

Recall that the purported selection of the new Eleesade of Eesade became controversial after two out of three princes, Prince Olusegun Oyeniyi, Prince Oyebamiji Oyewole and the Ola Eleesade Ruling House were excluded and not invited. A process which led to series of letters of appeal for inquiry, calls for fresh selection process and reminders to the Governor, Attorney-General, Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters.

Eleesade, an Oyo State Part II stool became vacant about a year ago after the transition of the last occupant, Oba Kilani Ojeduntan from the Akoro Ruling House. Three princes from the next Ruling House- Ola Eleesade Ruling House, have since signified interest for the throne namely: Prince Olusegun Oyeniyi, a Legislative Consultant in his 40s from the Olugbodi family; Prince Oyebamiji Oyewole, ASUU, Ibadan zonal coordinator and a professor at LAUTECH in his 60s from the Oyewole family; and Prince Oyebisi Jokotoye, a retiree in his 80s from the Jokotoye family.

The selection process degenerated into crisis when some Ogo Oluwa Local Government officials led by the Deputy Director of Administration and General Services allegedly acting on orders of the local government chairman, Hon. Seun Abisoye Ojo, who has taken side with Prince Jokotoye and illegaly excluded Prince Oyeniyi and Prince Oyewole from participating during the purported administrative process by not sending them invite to the meeting and not pasting the statutory14-day notification within the village. An event which both Oyeniyi and Oyewole immediately escalated to the state government for redress and fresh exercise.

“I can tell you for sure that there are signs that the group, with different fake and forged documents including purported correspondences from our Ruling House and a certain recommendation allegedly from the Traditional Rulers Council, has succeeded in misleading the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters but the information going round that the illegal process has been duly completed with the authority of the Oyo State government or that the Governor has approved their candidate and awaiting installation day is a totally and carefully packaged falsehood. Their illegality has nothing to do with the Governor, it is just plain name-dropping by those who are after their own uncivilised interests, not minding the implications of their actions on the peaceful state of the town and the giant strides made so far by the Oyo State Government under Governor Makinde in many areas and especially in the area of security.,” Oyeniyi emphasised.

The legislative expert further said “Apart from the fact that an impostor was contracted by their favourite contestant to impersonate the Mogaji of our Ola Eleesade Ruling House during the sham they now tout as selection, no invitation was extended to the Ruling House and other contestants by the Local Government officials that conducted the selection process. The entire process was a blatant contravention of the Chiefs Law, Cap 28, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000. The Governor did not approve any candidate, nor the State Government making any preparation to install any at least for now. Therefore, we are cautioning those peddling these lies and dragging the name of His Excellency, Engr. Seyi Makinde, into an issue he has no hand in, to desist from such nefarious activity”

“And while we heal from the needless aggression and hostility directed towards us by the council officials led by the Deputy Director, Administration and General Services, on the day of the purported selection process, we are also, using this medium to call on our amiable and over-working Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, to please look in and also work on the two letters sent to his good office so far, and cause an inquiry to be set up to look into the issue and order for the fresh and clean selection process.,”he pleaded.

In his call to the people for calm, the youngest amongst the contestants also alerted the security agencies about the matter. He said “We hereby tell our people that the information going rounds is not true, the Governor did not give any approval and no installation is on the way for now. We call on everyone to remain calm and continue to go about their daily activities. We are also alerting the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Commissioner of Police, Oyo State, the Director of State Security Service, Oyo State, the Security Adviser to the Governor and Director-General of Operation Burst, on the security implication of the ongoing matter. These elements are capable of instigating our people against the government if not stopped from dragging the Governor into an act we consider lawless and one which cannot be defended by any aspect of our laws. We are proud of the service delivery efforts and security of lives and properties by Governor Seyi Makinde, and we would not allow anyone to disrupt that.”

Some documents sighted show the Oyewole family where Prince Oyebamiji hails from ascended the throne the last time it was the turn of the Ola Eleesade Ruling House as the 17th Eleesade, the Jokotoye family of Prince Oyebisi reigned before then as the 15th Eleesade while the Olugbodi family of Prince Olusegun is jostling to take their first turn of the ancient throne as the 19th.