Prince Luqman Gbadegesin, who was first put forth by the Oyo Mesi kingmakers, contested yesterday Prince Akeem Owoade’s nomination and staff presentation as the 46th Alaafin of Oyo.
Gbadegesin criticized the selection procedure that produced Prince Owoade, claiming that it went against the old town’s Chieftaincy Declaration.
Recall that following a divination by Prof. Wande Abimbola, an Ifa diviner, Governor Seyi Makinde gave the new monarch in Ibadan the staff of office.
Gbadegesin claimed that the recognition of the new king did not adhere to the Oyo State Chiefs’ Law 2000 in a pre-action notice sent by his attorney, Adekunle Sobaloju SAN.
The statement reads, “By announcing a different candidate, the governor has usurped the powers of the Oyomesi, violating the Alaafin Chieftaincy Declaration of 1961, which makes the Oyomesi the sole authority for the selection of the Alaafin of Oyo.
“The governor’s alleged reliance on Ifa consultation contradicts the judgment of the Oyo State High Court of 19th December 2022, which declared Ifa consultation in the selection process unlawful because it is not contained in the Alaafin Chieftaincy Declaration of 1961, and the allegations of bribery by two Oyomesi members, raised over a year after the selection, lack credibility and were not formally communicated to the Governor or investigated.”
According to the counsel, he pleaded with the court to grant “an order setting aside the purported appointment, approval of appointment and presentation of staff of office to Prince Abimbola Akeem Owoade as Alaafin of Oyo as it was done in violation of the provisions of the Chief’s Law of Oyo State, 2000, the Registered Alaafin Chieftaincy Declaration of 1961, unlawful, unconstitutional, invalid, null and void.”
Additionally, he requests that the court rule that Prince Gbadegesin, his client, “was validly selected and or appointed by the Kingmakers of Alaafin of Oyo as the candidate to fill the vacant stool of the Alaafin of Oyo by Chiefs Law of Oyo State, 2000 and the Registered Alaafin Chieftaincy Declaration of 1961 and therefore his appointment is valid, lawful and proper.”