Disputed Deji   

Published on August 30, 2010 by TheNEWS   ·   No Comments

The selection of Adebiyi Adegboye Adesida as the new Deji of Akure, is perceived to be fraught with irregularities

One name most likely to kill the appetite of Oba Adebiyi Adesida, the new Deji of Akure, during his coronation dinner, is that of Prince Ademola Adegoroye, the first runner-up in the selection exercise that saw his emergence as Deji. Prince Adegoroye’s name will also, most certainly, not spark pleasant commentaries within the Ondo State government circle.

Yet, in the coming months, both Oba Adesida and the Ondo State government will be regularly irritated by the Akure prince, who has vowed to challenge what he regards as the overbearing influence of government in the process that led to the selection of Oba Adesida. Prince Adegoroye averred that the manner in which the state government conducted itself during the selection exercise smacked of connivance. According to Prince Adegoroye, who represented the Faturoti royal family, apart from being chosen by the ifa oracle, he scored nine of the 16 votes cast by the kingmakers. Adegoroye added that though there are 19 kingmakers, two voted by proxy, while the last one had to vote on a wheelchair. They included High Chief Amos Balogun, the Aro of Akure, who was ill and was brought, in an Ondo State government ambulance to the Akure South Local Government secretariat venue of the exercise from the University College Hospital in Ibadan.

Others are Chief Omojowo Olusanya, the Asamo of Akure and Chief Akin Agbi, the Ojomu-Uro of Akure, who was confined to a wheelchair but wrote the name of his candidate on a paper and thumb-printed it to cast his vote. Prince Adegoroye told this magazine that immediately the voting was concluded, security operatives dispersed people who had gathered to witness the announcement of the result and went away with the envelope containing the ballots.

Prince Adegoroye’s claim was corroborated by that of High Chief M.A. Falade, the Odopetu of Akure. Addressing journalists in Akure after the exercise, Chief Falade, accompanied by other kingmakers, revealed that since he has been involved in the process of selecting kings for Akure, he had never witnessed such irregularity on the part of the state government.

According to the high chief, nine contestants to the throne were screened on 11 August, according to the Chiefs’ Edict which places the onus of the selection of a Deji on the kingmakers. In the process, Ifa divination was used to eliminate some contestants. Invariably, Oba Adesida and Prince Adegoroye emerged the most eligible.

The next step was for the kingmakers to vote for their choice contestant, under the supervision of the Secretary of the local government, who was also the head of the selection exercise. This, the kingmakers said, they did accordingly. After concluding the voting that night, however, Chief Falade said, the secretary hurriedly put all the ballot papers in an envelope and disappeared. This aroused their curiosity, so they confronted the secretary. But he promised to consult the kingmakers before the result would be released. “He said he had the instruction of the police, the SSS and his boss not to release the result. This is contrary to the Chiefs Edict,” Chief Falade said. For this reason, the kingmakers rejected the result and vowed never to be party to it. They also rejected the selection of Oba Adesida as the new Deji, adding that nine of them actually signed an undertaking that Adegoroye is their choice.

But Ranti Akerele, Commissioner for Information, reckoned that those who criticise the process of the selection of the new Deji are only ignorant. Akerele said anybody familiar with the workings of government knows that it is the responsibility of government to select the Deji in order to ensure the security of life and property in the town. He explained that the Secretary of Akure Local Government, who was also the head of the selection committee, submitted the result of the voting exercise to the commissioner in charge of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

Thereafter, the result was taken to the State Executive Council, where it was found that Oba Adesida polled eight votes against Adegoroye’s seven votes. Other votes were said to have been rendered invalid because the other four kingmakers were not eligible to vote. It was based on this result, Akerele said, that the state government went ahead to pronounce Adesida the new Deji.

Still, many believe Oluwatuyi was only speaking for himself. Akeem Ijimakinwa, an indigene of Akure, told this medium that the fact that the indigenes of the town are not protesting Oba Adesida’s selection does not mean that he is accepted. “We are only trying to see how things will turn out,” he said. Ijimakinwa claimed that Adegoroye’s problem lies in the fact that he is very popular in Akure and his appointment could influence the 2011 governorship election against Governor Olusegun Mimiko, especially as Adegoroye is known not to fancy the ruling Labour Party, LP.

But Prince Idowu Adegoroye, spokesperson of the Faturoti royal family, reasons that Prince Adegoroye’s political inclination should not be a barrier to his ascension to the throne. Moreso as, according to him, Adegoroye polled the majority of the votes during the selection exercise. “Adegoroye scored nine votes, as against seven scored by the government-favoured candidate,” he said, adding that the same process had in the past been used to determine who became the Deji.

The Faturoti family spokesman hinted that Prince Adegoroye is already in consultation with Chief Wole Olanipekun, his lawyer, on what steps to take next. “Definitely, we will go to court to correct the injustice,” he said. He added that the suspicion that their family was robbed by the state government was further reinforced by the Council of Kingmakers’ letter to the Secretary to the State Government.

In the letter dated 12 August, and signed by Chief Falade, Chairman of the council and Chief R.A. Olalusi, Secretary of the council, the kingmakers said after carefully playing their traditional and statutory roles on the selection of a new Deji of Akure, as enshrined in Schedule V, paragraphs f and g of the Deji of Akure Chieftaincy Declaration Order 1991, they concluded that Prince Adegoroye should be appointed the Deji.

The letter, which was sent to the offices of the Governor, the state Director of SSS, the Commissioner of Police, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice and the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs among others, included that Prince Adegoroye was not only preferred by the Ifa oracle, but was the best among all the candidates who showed interest in the throne.

—Olusola Olaosebikan

Tags:  Adebiyi Adegboye Adesida, Deji of Akure, Oba Adebiyi Adesida, Prince Ademola Adegoroye