Recall that the group, led by one Comrade Sulaimon Suberu had petitioned Governor Dapo Abiodun and Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Taiwo Oluomo on the kingship issue.
The group claimed that some government officials are working in connivance with certain individuals in the town to scuttle the primordial arrangement of kingship and pattern of ascendancy in the town by imposing the wrong candidate.
The group said the next ruling house – Olokojobi had unanimously presented a suitable candidate, according to the extant law and in line with the dictates of Ifa oracle, in the person of Idowu AbdulAzeez Adedimeji, alleging that the popular candidate was later changed unilaterally by the kingmakers and replaced with one Prince Rotimi Mulero, which triggered protests and violent agitation in the town.
But in a statement yesterday, signed by the Chairman of Kingmakers and Somofe of Ibese Land, Chief Tajudeen Aremu Adewuyi, they debunked the report, saying the process that produced Mulero was democratic, void of imposition from any quarters.
The statement read: “Ordinarily, we would not have responded to the report as it contained nothing but falsehood but to put the record straight, hence our response. For record purposes, it is the family that decides who they want to present to us either candidate or candidates. Our job as kingmakers is to formalise the process.
“But when they couldn’t come up with a consensus candidate, we as kingmakers had to vote on their shortlisted candidates.
“The family presented six of them, two withdrew. So, they were four who were officially nominated by their ruling house on January 30, 2019, where the Local Council officials were there as observers.
“Their names are Prince Alexander Idowu, Prince Shuaib Mustafa, Prince Rotimi Mulero, and Prince Azeez Idowu. There was nothing like a consensus candidate and we told them, to step down for each other, go and settle this thing, it’s a family matter.
“They went, but none of them could step down so they had to go and meet the Local Government Chairman. They called them for a peace meeting again. It was when they couldn’t resolve it, that they wrote us as kingmakers to come and do our job on March 25, 2019.
“We got there, and we did the right thing. We scrutinised and went into voting where only one person can definitely emerge. Those saying that it was a kangaroo election, had one vote o!. Even the people, who had no vote, didn’t protest. So, there was no imposition whatsoever in the whole process.
“The declaration being peddled around is not particular to Ibese land It is the declaration being used in the whole of Yewaland, which stipulated that a candidate from either the male or female descendants is qualified for the stool in as much as he is the most suitable. If they don’t know they should get a copy from any of our neighbouring towns in Yewa land.”
