Ibadan – The Otun Olubadan, Senator Lekan Balogun, has said he and his colleagues who were promoted to Obas by the previous administration will revert to their original positions of High Chiefs as directed by the state governor, Seyi Makinde.
The Otun Olubadan, who is the next in line to become the new Olubadan, said this in an interview with our correspondent in Ibadan on Wednesday.
Makinde had on Tuesday directed that Ibadan traditional institution revert to its original concept to end the controversy trailing the selection of the new Olubadan after the death of Oba Saliu Adetunji.
Balogun said, “We are okay by the governor’s directive. He is the one running the government. Whatever he wants is what we will do. He means well for the state, for Ibadan and others. We will abide by his demand.
“We will abide by what he said. It was the rule of his predecessor that got us to do what we were doing and now that he is in charge and he wants us to revert, we will revert.
“Whatever he wants is what we will abide by. We lose nothing by doing that and that is the way it is.”
There has been raging controversy over the propriety of the Otun Olubadan to ascend the throne of Olubadan after the death of Oba Adetunji.
He and other High Chiefs were elevated to beaded crown-wearing Obas by the administration of Senator Abiola Ajimobi but the Osi Olubadan, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, who is a former governor in the state, rejected the offer to become an Oba.
Following the death of Oba Adetunji, a former Attorney General in the state, Mr Michael Lana, in a petition to the governor, asked him to withhold approval for the Otun Olubadan to ascend the throne of Olubadan.
He argued that the High Chiefs had been elevated to Obas and it would be an aberration to crown somebody twice because such had never happened anywhere in Yorubaland.
But the High Chiefs said their elevation could not stop any of them from ascending the throne when it is their turn because they remain High Chiefs despite their elevation.
Makinde had, during his condolence visit to the family of the late Olubadan, said the ascendancy to the throne of Olubadan had never witnessed controversy because of the laid down traditions on succession where the next in line as Olubadan was usually known.
He said the elevation of some High Chiefs to Oba by his predecessor in office caused the present controversy being witnessed.
Meanwhile, a former governorship aspirant in the state on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, has commended Makinde for his position on the controversy over the appointment of a new Olubadan.
Copyright PUNCH.
