September 17, (THEWILL) – The residents of Odo-Ora-Ekiti in Isokan Local Community Development Area (LCDA) of Ekiti have asked the governor of the state, Biodun Oyebanji, to dethrone their traditional ruler, Oba Akinola Samuel Adeyemo.
The indigenes, while making the appeal, said that Ayodele Fayose, a former governor of the state, imposed Adeyemo as the Obalemo of Odo-Ora-Ekiti in 2017 on them. They insist that Adeyemo was not the rightful heir to the throne at the time he was installed, adding that the monarch was yet to perform the mandatory traditional rites laid down by the custom of the land. The father of the embattled traditional ruler had ruled between 1975 and 1988 and the mantle went to the second ruling family, which was Ogidilusu lineage, where the Owoniya family ruled for a few years before the demise of the traditional ruler in 2014.
According to the chiefs of the community, the royal mantle currently falls on Fatimehin’s lineage, but the next families that were eligible to the throne were both Adewoye and Idowu’s families and not the Adeyemo family.
The chiefs said the monarch was not the next in line to the throne as politics was played during the selection period and that unless he is dethroned, peace and development will likely not return to the town. Back in 2019, the monarch was locked out of his palace over this same issue. Palm fronds were tied to the gate of the palace to prevent him from occupying the building.
