The Igbajo royal families under the aegis of Onigemo descendants in Boluwaduro Local Government Area of Osun have expressed support for Gov. Ademola Adeleke’s reversal of the enthronement of Prince Gboyega Famodun, as the Owa of Igbajo.
This is contained in a statement jointly signed by the Onigemo of Igbajo, Chief Gbadebo Bamigboye and other royal princes; Prince Jonathan Bamigboye, Prince Adebayo Makinde and Prince Tunde Dada, on Thursday in Osogbo.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adeleke had on Monday signed an Executive Order suspending the enthronement of the Aree of Iree, the Akirun of Ikirun and the Owa of Igbajo.
The suspension would hold pending the review of their appointments, the governor declared.
Adeleke also directed security operatives to take over the palaces of the three traditional rulers immediately.
The royal families said the governor’s decision would bring sanity to the Igbajo community, adding that happenings in Igbajo-Iloro in the last few days and particularly since the inauguration of Adeleke, had really humbled them.
They said the appointment of Famodun by the immediate past governor Gboyega Oyetola did not follow due process and that Adeleke’s decision to review the appointment was “a welcome development.”
They said the Onigemo descendants had on Nov. 9 published a newspaper advert on why the family should be considered for the throne and a protest letter written to the former governor for a level playing ground.
The royal families also said that the purported press statement by the Owa-in-Council, suggesting that there were peace and joy in the town after the installation of Famodun as Owa of Igbajo was “a fallacy that only exists in the mind of an oppressor.”
They said the purported press statement could not have been from the highly revered institution of Owa-in-Council, adding that “it could have only come from the media arm of a political party that recently exited power in Osun State.”
They said that the press statement was “lacking in tact, diplomacy, empathy and sensitivity that is found in the ancients”.
The royal families noted that from Nov. 16 to Nov. 24, when Famodun was installed as Owa of Igbajo, “the Igbajo town was militarized with the presence of heavily armed policemen to mull any dissenting voice.”
They said the peace in the town during and after Famodun’s installation was due to the appeal for calm by the President of the Igbajo Development Association (IDA), Mr Sola Fanawopo, on a radio programme.
credit: PM News
