The Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi has said the claims by Otun Seriki of Ibadan, Chief Adebayo Oyediji, that he is the next Olubadan of Ibadanland, are futile. Ajimobi made this disclosure during an interview with State House correspondents shortly after a meeting he had with President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday.
Ajimobi stated that, “The beauty of the Olubadan institution makes it unique in the whole of Nigeria. It is the only institution where we know the next 20 or 50 Obas. We don’t fight for it. Every house can produce an Olubadan, including my house. So, it is not limited, like in some areas where you say this is the only family or these are the families. Every son of Ibadanland can become the Olubadan of Ibadanland.
“Therefore, we feel it is a rancour-free succession programme where everybody is qualified to be there. So, we know the next to the next. In fact, we know the next 100th Olubadan. The Seriki House started during the period of the late Chief Adisa Akinloye and it has been decided even long ago that to be Olubadan from the Seriki line, you have to join if there are concurrent deaths of both the Ekerin and Ashipa, then you can qualify as Seriki to be Ekerin. But now, there is no vacancy for any Ekerin.
“The man (Oyediji) who lays claim to be the next Olubadan, even if he were to be a Seriki now, which he is not, he will only be promoted to Ekerin. He cannot come from Seriki to be Olubadan. It is not going to happen. We have had one before that was promoted to Ekerin, and along the line, he died. So, the people laying claim to Olubadan are just embarking on an exercise in futility.”
