Former Governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja who is the Osi Olubadan of Ibadanland said, yesterday, that the new Ibadan kings installed by Governor Abiola Ajimobi stoked the crisis in Ibadan traditional council by their romance with the governor.
Ladoja, who said this through his Personal Assistant, Alhaji Lanre Latinwo said he repeatedly warned that the monarchs were treading on dangerous ground by their clandestine meetings against the monarch.
The ex-governor said his colleagues in the Olubadan-in-Council should stop chasing shadows by reducing the Ibadan chieftaincy title to a personality attack.
Apparently reacting to the statement credited to the government appointed Obas that he (Ladoja) was the cause of their rift with Olubadan, the Osi Olubadan made it clear that the embattled high chiefs might not be aware that the root of the crisis was their romance with the government.
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Recalling that he had warned them severally not to externalize the traditional affairs of the Olubadan in council for a “mess of pottage, Ladoja regretted that some of them who were falling over one another to have the ears of the governor did not listen until the keg of gun powder blew in their faces”.
“Then, when clandestine meetings started at different locations against Olubadan, I had cause to warn them of the danger inherent in such an unholy alliance against the Oluabdan stool. Given this background, how did I contribute to the cause of their rift?
He complained that “in spite of the letter received by them from the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Ibadan North Local Government is yet to comply with the directive.
Even, where there is compliance, one month out of 11 month salaries was paid to the palace staff.
So, where is the remaining 10 month salary? “Even when some members of the royal household decried their coming to the palace, it was Ladoja who pleaded with them. But, one is not surprised. Didn’t they receive Olubadan’s birthday cards only to deny that they could not honour the invitation because they were not properly addressed?
“The judgment has not yet been set aside by a superior court. Even after three months of the judgment, we are yet to receive any summons from the court of Appeal. The implication is that the high court judgment subsists and the crowns freely distributed by the state government remain illegal.”
