Oyo kingmakers drags Gov. Makinde to Court over Alaafin selection

The Oyomesi in Council, also referred to as the kingmakers of Oyo town, have taken Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde to court on the Alaafin of Oyo’s vacant seat.

A court injunction to prevent the governor and his representatives “from aborting the process for the selection/appointment of the candidate for filling the vacant stool of Alaafin of Oyo duly conducted by the kingmakers of Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy” is sought in the Oyo State High Court in Oyo through a lawsuit with the file number HOY/38/2023. The plaintiffs are five kingmakers.

The kingmakers who filed the suit are the Bashorun of Oyo, High Chief Yusuf Layinka; Lagunna of Oyo, High Chief Wakeel Oyedepo; Akinniku of Oyo, High Chief Amusa Yusuf; Areago Bashorun, Chief Wahab Oyetunji; and the Alapo of Oyo, Chief Gbadebo Mufutau.

In addition to Makinde, the Oyo State Attorney General and the state’s Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

The kingmakers clarified that at their meeting on September 30, 2023, they had unanimously chosen Prince Lukuman Gbadegesin to succeed Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, the 45th Alaafin of Oyo, in the historic stool. The position had been empty since April of previous year.

The kingmakers are pleading with the court to prevent the governor of Oyo State and his operatives from annulling Gbadegesin’s and  “approving or recognising any other candidate” as the next Alaafin “after a duly conducted process for the filling of the vacant stool of Alaafin of Oyo in accordance with the native law, custom and Chieftaincy Declaration of Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy.”

The kingmakers further request that the court prevent the governor and the other defendants from “dissolving the Oyomesi in Council or appointing or selecting warrant chiefs to conduct or start a fresh process for the filling of the vacant stool of Alaafin of Oyo” or from taking them down from their position as Oyo kingmakers.

“Harrassing, disturbing, preventing or stopping the claimants from carrying on their traditional functions and responsibilities as kingmakers of Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy,” is what they want the court to order the defendants to stop doing.

The PUNCH claims that on October 18, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission questioned a few Oyo kingmakers over allegations of bribery pertaining to the selection of the next Alaafin.

The EFCC decided to call the kingmakers in for questioning after learning that the petitioner claimed they had amassed millions of naira in bribes to support a specific candidate.

It was discovered that the kingmakers who accepted the invitation from the EFCC were escorted by their legal representatives and required to provide written declarations prior to being permitted to go.

After being reached by The PUNCH, High Chief Lamidi Oyewale, the Samu of Oyo town, acknowledged receiving the invitation from the EFCC, stating, “Yes, we were invited.” We have left and returned.