Islanders Magazine

Ooni Ogunwusi Remains Permanent Chairman Of Osun Council Of Obas, Ife Board Replies Owa Obokun
 …Dismisses His Claim As Null and Void




THE controversy over the claim of the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran that he had been elected as the substantive chairman of Osun State Council of Obas took a new dimension on Friday, when Ife Development Board (IDB) described such claim as null and void.
The body said it was totally wrong and illegal for Oba Aromolaran to claim that he had been elected as the substantive chairman of the state traditional council, bearing in mind that the Ooni of Ife remains the permanent chairman of the body.
Oba Aromolaran had on Thursday, said “during the meeting of council of Obas in Osogbo, the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun moved the motion that since I have been acting as the chairman, I should continue in that capacity as the substantive chairman and other monarchs supported the motion.”
Reacting to the development at a press conference in Ile-Ife on Friday, the chairman of IDB, Professor Muiz Opeloye said “Ife Development Board notes with dismay, the Osun State Council of Obas’ resolution to make the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran the permanent chairman of the state council of Obas, as contained in the communique released at the end of their meeting of Thursday 3rd, December, 2015.”
He declared that “this resolution, to say the least, is ultra vires, as it contravenes the Council of Obas (Reposition) Law of Osun State signed by the former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola in 2003, making it null and void and totally unacceptable to the good people of Ile-Ife and the entire Yoruba nation.”
“It is a fact of history that right from the colonial era till date, Ooni has been recognised as the natural father of the Yoruba Obas, a position which derives from the incontrovertible status of Ife as the ancestral origin of Yoruba people,” Opeloye asserted.
He continued, “if we should go down the memory lane, we should remind ourselves that in the old Western Region when we had bicameral legislature, Sir Adesoji Aderemi as the Ooni of Ife was not only the president of the House of Chiefs, he was also the permanent chairman of the region’s council of Obas. Nobody rotated the chairmanship with him.”
“In 1980, after the demise of Oba Adesoji Aderemi, Oba Okunade Sijuwade took over in Oyo State as the permanent chairman till 1992 when Osun State was created. The position of Ooni as the permanent chairman of the Council of Obas did not change since the creation of Osun State. In fact, Oba Okunade Sijuwade was pronounced as the chairman of the state council of Obas the same day he was announced as the Ooni of Ife”.