The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Akeem Owoade, has refuted claims by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde that he was consulted on the introduction of a rotational chairmanship for the state’s Council of Obas and Chiefs.
In a statement issued on Thursday by the Director of Media and Publicity to the Alaafin, Bode Durojaiye, the palace said the king neither met with the governor nor agreed to any arrangement that would rotate the leadership of the council among the Alaafin of Oyo, the Olubadan of Ibadanland and the Soun of Ogbomosoland.
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The response followed Governor Makinde’s remarks at the inauguration of the Council of Obas and Chiefs in Ibadan, the state capital, on Thursday, where he announced the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, as chairman.
The development marked the end of Alaafin’s run as the permanent chairman of the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs under an old law that was recently amended to put the rotational arrangement in place.
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The governor had said the decision was reached after consultations with the three foremost traditional rulers in the state and that they agreed the chairmanship should commence with the Olubadan.
“I called the monarchs that we proposed in the law that the chairmanship of the Council of Obas will rotate, and I believe from the law it’s every two years that it will rotate. This is what we are known for. But when we sit down, if we don’t resolve issues and do what is right and proper for our people, then we have failed,” the governor said.
But dismissing the claim, the Alaafin’s palace said no such meeting ever took place.
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“The attention of the Alaafin’s Palace has been drawn to a statement credited to Governor Seyi Makinde that he consulted with the Alaafin of Oyo, the Olubadan of Ibadanland and the Soun of Ogbomoso on the rotational chairmanship of the State Council of Obas and Chiefs.
“At no time did His Imperial Majesty, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Akeem Owoade, hold any meeting with the governor or with any of the traditional rulers mentioned. The Alaafin did not convey to the governor, directly or indirectly, any endorsement of a rotational chairmanship,” the statement read.
According to the statement, the stance of the Alaafin and the people of Oyo on the matter was contained in a memorandum earlier submitted to the governor through the Oyo Council of Elders.
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“Also the Alaafin did not tell the Governor or make a categorical statement on his endorsement of rotational chairmanship among the three traditional rulers in the State,” the statement added.
The Alaafin’s recent statement appears to offer an insight into his absence from the inauguration of the reconstituted Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs held in Ibadan on Thursday. But the statement did not address his absence from the event.
The ceremony marked the official take-off of the council under the amended Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs Law, 2025, passed by the State House of Assembly. The new law, however, changed the leadership structure of the council by removing the Alaafin as its permanent chairman.
The amended law repealed the Oyo State Chieftaincy Law of 2000, which named the Alaafin of Oyo as the permanent, though largely ceremonial, chairman of the council.
Under the new arrangement, the chairmanship will rotate among the Olubadan of Ibadanland, the Alaafin of Oyo and the Soun of Ogbomosoland.
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