Rasaq Adeosun, the special adviser to the governor of Osun State on local government and chieftaincy affairs, has reiterated that the choice of Prince Yinusa Olalekan Akadiri of the Oba-Ara Ruling House as the Akinrun of Ikirun was made by the Ikirun kingmakers.
Adeosun noted that the State government did not violate any existing laws by selecting Akadiri to serve as Akinrun.
Adeosun revealed this while responding to inquiries on a radio current affairs program on Friday in Osogbo. He added that the Kingmakers are responsible for choosing qualified candidates from among the members of the ruling houses, while the government is only responsible for appointing under the Chiefs Law.
Youths in Ikirun Town, Ifelodun Local Government Area, have reportedly protested the State government’s choice to nominate an Akinrun on Wednesday night.
Prince Yinusa Olalekan Akadiri was named the Akinrun of Ikirun by the State Government, while nine other princes were named new obas in their respective kingdoms.
“I would like to emphasize unequivocally that, in accordance with the Chiefs Law in Osun State, the government’s responsibility is to appoint.
“The power of appointment and the power of choosing are completely distinct. The Kingmakers in a town will decide, and it is the State government’s sole duty to ensure that everything is done in accordance with the existing rules governing the appointment of traditional rulers in the State.
“Therefore, selection wasn’t made by the State administration. On November 19, 2021, a king for the town was chosen by the Kingmakers of the town in a 6:1 ratio. There were roughly 18 competitors.
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“One of them received six votes, the next received one, and the rest received none.
Since then, we have had to pay attention to additional steps of the procedure. To ensure that everything is done in accordance with the current laws, the Ministry of Justice must be involved.
“All procedures were followed throughout, and it was found there is no legal encumbrance. Just approving is all that the government must do.
“What we did wasn’t a selection; it was just an approval. Since 2021, the Kingmakers have been in charge of choosing candidates, he claimed.
The Special Adviser revealed that although it was the Gboleru Ruling House’s turn to produce the next Akinrun, the Ministry had written and instructed the local government to oversee the choice of the Oba from the ruling house. However, along the way, they had taken legal action against themselves.
“For reasons known to them, they challenged themselves in court, and at the end of the day, the ruling of the Osun State High Court, Ikirun asked the State to advance to the next level since the family, Gboleru Ruling House, that was supposed to produce an Oba was not ready for it,” he said. They had a situation going on.
Divisions existed inside the home. They put themselves to the test. They were unable to resolve their differences when the court ordered them to do so.
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He believed that the Gboleru Decision was not prepared to produce the next Akinrun and that the Osun State Government was just following the Osun State High Court’s ruling, which was made in Ikirun, that the monarch should pass to the next ruling house, Obaara.
