Contestant urges Adeleke to cancel exercise
One of the contestants to the stool of the Aree of Iree in Boripe Local Council of Osun State, Ali Afolabi of Olubonku Ruling House of the town, yesterday, alleged fraud and aberration in the fresh election process of a new monarch.
It would be recalled that Governor Ademola Adeleke after several months of sacking the erstwhile Aree of Iree, Oba Ademola Ponle, alongside two other traditional rulers in Igbajo and Ikirun for alleged violation of due process in their respective selections, had recently issued a white paper wherein he ordered fresh selection process in Iree.
Specifically on Aree of Iree chieftaincy, the substantive chiefs are enjoined to withdraw their suit before the court to allow for the commencement of the selection process.
However, Afolabi, in a letter dated February 26, 2024, and addressed to the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Osun, Dosu Babatunde, by his lawyer, FolorunsoApantaku, said that due to the closure of courts, pending cases are yet to be withdrawn in conformity with the dictates of the White Paper.
He said that the fresh selection process conducted on February 22, 2024 by Boripe North Local Council of the state, which purportedly produced Ibraheem Oyelakin as the Oba-elect, violated the rule of law and was not in line with the chieftaincy laws of Osun State procedure and the tradition of the town.
Afolabi, while describing the selection procedure as a complete fraud, noted that two kingmakers voted in the election that was supposed to have six kingmakers.
He said that Boripe North Local Council failed in its statutory duty to appoint warrant chiefs to replace the vacant kingmakers’ position, saying that out of the four kingmakers alive, two voted while the other two voted in proxy, a situation that contravenes due process and rendered the exercise illegal and unacceptable.
Afolabi, who asked the governor, Ademola Adeleke, to cancel the fraudulent selection exercise, said that there was an injunction restraining the council and kingmakers of Iree town from taking any steps in the selection process of Aree of Iree pending the hearing and determination of motion on notice, by an order made by the Federal High Court, Osogbo, on February 21, 2024, which was duly served on the parties before the council hastily conducted the election.
Meanwhile, when contacted, the state’s Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Dosu Babatunde, did not pick telephone calls. He was yet to respond to the text message sent to him. Also, efforts to reach the council chairman, JamiuAdedokun, failed as at the time of filing this report.
