Royal family writes Ondo assembly over ‘attempt to impose’ king on community

Members of the Sejeokun ruling house of Ijare in Ifedore LGA of Ondo state have kicked against an attempt to impose a king on the community.

The ruling house accused Wemimo Olaniran, the head of kingmakers in the Ijare community, of allegedly sabotaging the process of selecting the new Olujare.

In August 2021, Adebamigbe Oluwagbemigun Kokotiri II, the immediate former Olujare of Ijare, passed on.

The passage of the monarch created a vacuum on the stool that must t

In a letter on Sunday, the ruling house accused Olaniran of wanting his preferred candidate to occupy the vacant stool through an alleged fraudulent process.

The royal family said the community has one ruling house which is entitled to the vacant tool, adding that Olaniran is not a member of the Sejeokun royal family.

“The Omowas of the Sejeokun ruling house are at this moment using this platform to inform you about an issue of grave concern happening within the Ijare community,” the letter reads.

“Since we started the process of selecting a new Olujare following the demise of HRM Adebamigbe Oluwagbemigun Kokotiri II.

“To summarize the situation, we have only one ruling house in line with the chieftaincy declaration.

“At the onset of the selection process, it was discovered that there was a collusion between the head of the kingmakers (Chief Odunola Wemimo Olaniran, the Sapetu of Ijare) and the ceremonial head of Sejeokun (Chief Arinmo) ruling house.

“As a result of this, the ruling house kicked against the fraudulent process. It was resolved by the Ifedore local government management and the ministry of local government & chieftaincy affairs for the process to be reconvened and that the process should start all over again from the Ruling house.

“Every attempt we have made to restart the selection process, Chief Sapetu has continued to sabotage the process all because his preferred candidate is not considered by any standard to be a worthy candidate to ascend to the exalted throne by the ruling house.

“As of today, his actions have pitched a few of the Afobajes against each other and polarized the entire community.

“We have written series of petitions to the Ifedore LGA, the police area command (Akure), and the commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs; all of them have mediated at different times, advising that Chief Sapetu not to interfere in the Sejeokun Royal family affairs because he’s not part of the family.”

The letter was addressed to the speaker of the Ondo house of assembly and signed by Adekunle Alade, head of the ruling house, Adebambo Oluwagbemigun and Adebanjo Adejuwon.