Benin Palace Denies Oba’s Death Rumour

THE Secretary of Benin Traditional Council (BTC), Mr. Frank Irabor, Friday dismissed the rumour that the Oba of Benin has passed on.

   There were reports on the social media yesterday that the monarch had joined his ancestors.

   The report also amplified the speculation that the Oba did not personally receive the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, President Goodluck Jonathan.

   But Irabor explained that it was the responsibility of the Council to issue a formal statement, if such a development did occur.

   “If there is anything like that, there is usually a statement from the palace or from the Benin Traditional Council,” he stressed.

  He said the inability of Jonathan to see the monarch when he visited the palace did not give credence to his rumoured death, adding: “The fact that he has not been coming out, even when the President came last week, does not mean that there is anything like that.”