Shina Abubakar, Osogbo

A ruling house in Iree, Boripe local government area of Osun State, has called on the State Governor, Ademola Adeleke to ignore calls urging him to repeal his executive order nullifying the appointment of some monarchs in the state.

The Oluwo-in-Council had on Tuesday, urged the Governor to repeal the executive order, which he pronounced during his inauguration suspending some monarchs, including Akirun of Ikirun, Owa of Igbajo and Aree of Iree, appointed by his predecessor pending the review of their appointment.

However, a statement issued by Prince Aliu Afolabi, on behalf of the Olubonku ruling house on Wednesday, said the Governor should see the prices through, by issuing a white paper on the report of the review committee.

According to him, due process was not followed in selecting Prince Oluponle as the Aree of Iree from among other contestants, adding that the decision of the immediate past government to have neglected Iree kingmakers and resorted to using warrant chiefs in selecting the traditional ruler was contrary to customs and would have set devastating precedence in the ancient town.

“It’s distasteful to read the report of a particular Traditional Council begging our amiable State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke to repeal the needed and very thoughtful executive order setting aside the illegal appointments of Aree of Iree and other illegally installed Obas. We want to state unequivocally that Governor Adeleke did take the best decision by setting aside the appointments and setting up a committee to review the processes. It was obvious that Iree would have been engulfed in crisis if Governor Adeleke had not intervened.

“We are grateful to Governor Adeleke for stabilizing the peace and development of our towns by that singular act and the whole people of Osun will remain thankful to the governor. We want the governor to disregard anyone or institution calling for the repeal of the executive order as that will be making rubbish of the efforts of the review committee that has already submitted its report to the state governor. We are patiently awaiting the White paper and we have no doubt that the Governor will allow justice and fairness to prevail in his decisions.

“We want to place on record again the illegality and imposition that played out in Iree where the six kingmakers known as Afobajes, whose primary assignment is to elect a new Ọba when the incumbent joins his ancestors were outrightly abandoned by the immediate past government in the appointment of new Aree of Iree. It’s against our custom and tradition to use warrant chiefs to elect an Oba and this was what propelled the kingmakers to institute a suit at the Osun State High Court, asking the court to stop the previous governor from appointing warrant chiefs”, it reads.