The Osi Olubadan and former governor of Oyo State, High Chief Rashidi Ladoja, has made it clear that he never said anything about the crowning or not of the Otun Olubadan, High Chief Lekan Balogun, who is traditionally the next heir to the throne, as the new king.
Ladoja’s reaction came on Thursday, January 6, 2022, sequel to online reports which indicated that he had finally backed the nomination of High Chief Balogun as the next Olubadan.
Senator Teslim Folarin of All Progressives Congress (APC), representing Oyo Central, was present at Ladoja’s residence in Bodija area of the city where he led bigwigs in the party to pay a condolence visit to the High Chief on the death of Oba Saliu Adetunji.
It will be recalled that the Otun Olubadan was nominated by the other 10 Olubadan-in-Council members at the ancient Mapo Hall on Wednesday, January 5.
Speaking, Ladoja said: “In my comment, I did not say High Chief Lekan Balogun will be the next Olubadan or not.
“I said and quote me, Otun Olubadan, traditionally is the next heir to the throne of Olubadan, but in this regard, I’m not talking about the nomination of Lekan Balogun.
“There was no time, I said I backed his nomination or not. Please, only report what I said and don’t quote me out of context.
“It is a known fact that, in Ibadan tradition, the Otun Olubadan traditionally becomes the next Olubadan after the exit of the Olubadan.
“That explanation should not be misconstrued to mean I’m in support of his nomination as the next Olubadan or not.
“For those asking, my ‘body and mouth language’ is that Egbon Lekan is my senior and he is next in line to the Olubadan stool.
“I do not have the powers to make anybody Olubadan.”
He also stated that he had nothing to do with the letter written by a senior Ibadan-born lawyer, Barrister Michael Lana.
“Let it be also known that I have no hand in the letter written by an Ibadan-born lawyer and former Commissioner of Justice in the state, Barrister Michael Lana. I did not know anything about it.
“In 2017, we instituted a case to challenge the needless reform that Abiola Ajimobi as governor wanted to do. Almost all of us as High Chiefs and members of the Olubadan-in-Council agreed to the filing of a suit to challenge him and we gave the task to Michael Lana.
“Lana later called me to say some of the High Chiefs told him to remove their names from the suit, leaving only me and High Chief Balogun m. Two weeks after we started the case, Egbon Balogun said he was no longer interested in the case. I asked Lana if I could do it alone and he told me ‘yes,’ and we continued,” Ladoja’s explained.
He further stated that the case was won at the state High Court and Ajimobi appealed.
“In a judgment, the Appeal Court, a few days to the exit of Ajimobi from government, sent the case back to the High Court for retrial. They Judges of the Appellate Court said the case was brought under writ of summons instead of originating summons.
“By that time, there had been a new government headed by Seyi Makinde who said he did not want the distraction of the suit and called for out-of court settlement, which we agreed to and did.
“After the terms of settlement were agreed to, the court gave a consent judgment based on the terms. But they said they were not happy and instituted two fresh cases which are still in court till today.
“So, I need people to understand that I am not causing any trouble. The cases that are in court today in respect of the Obaship tussle were instituted by Egbon Balogun and his colleagues who are still calling themselves Obas.
“It is they that the people should talk to. Let them go and withdraw the cases they instituted. I don’t like the unwarranted tension this matter is generating,” he added.
Ladoja, as the Osi Olubadan, is the second most senior chief in the line to produce the next king following the death of Oba Adetunji.
