After 25 years without a new monarch, the Ekiti State government has issued a 21-day ultimatum to the kingmakers in Oke-Ako Ekiti, Ikole Local Council, to initiate the process of installing one.

The State Deputy Governor, Mrs Monisade Afuye, gave the directive during a meeting with community stakeholders, addressing the prolonged inability to select a king.

To facilitate the process, Mrs Afuye limited the selection of the new Owa of Oke-Ako to the “Oke and Odo Aafin” branches of the Aafin Ruling House. The “Afata” lineage was excluded, as they had previously produced the monarch.

To resolve lingering disputes, the deputy governor appealed to the Afata family to withdraw the case they filed at the Supreme Court to enable a seamless selection process.

Afuye noted that the persistent kidnappings and killings in the Ipao-Oke-Ako-Irele axis could have been curtailed if the town had a substantive king to mobilise the community against the bandits terrorising the area.

She said, “We have no reason not to continue with the selection. No restraining order or stay of execution from any court can stop the government and kingmakers from proceeding with the process, so we have to move forward. Let your town move forward. Many of you are not living there. Nobody will be happy with the way things are in Oke-Ako.”

The Commissioner for Chieftaincy and Home Affairs, Mr Ojo Atibioke, announced that the government would formally direct the Ikole Local Council to mandate the Aafin Ruling House to select a new Owa.

He said, “All legitimate princes from the Aafin Ruling House, except those from the Afata lineage, should participate in the selection. Nobody should be excluded, and this should be done in the presence of the council and security agencies to ensure transparency. From now on, the government will pay special attention to Oke-Ako’s issues.”

An elder from the Aafin royal dynasty, Alhaji Mohammed Obafemi, commended the government’s intervention. He attributed the crisis to the Afata Ruling House’s insistence on their sole right to produce the Owa of Oke-Ako.

Obafemi asserted that, by history, customs, and traditions, all male descendants of the Oke Idi Osan and Aafin Ruling Houses are legitimate heirs to the royal stool.