Lekan Yusuf, Ibadan
The ruling house members of Laribikusi family in Eruwa, Ibarapa East Local Government, in Oyo state have raised alarm over the imposition of new monarch against their preferred choice.
This comes after the government allegedly sidelined the appropriate ruling house and shifted the process to the Akalako which is the next ruling house.
According to the Laribikusi ruling house, the Eleruwa Chieftaincy Declaration of 1958 recognizes both their house and the Akalako ruling house as the two ruling houses responsible for producing the Eleruwa.
The family noted that the declaration also stipulates that the throne should rotate between the two houses.
The Laribikusi ruling house claims that they were not given the required 14-day nomination notice by the government, as stated in the Chiefs Law of Oyo State. Instead, nothing that they received an invitation from the Ibarapa East Local Government for a meeting without a clear agenda.
Mr. IJAOLA Abolade, the Secretary and Spokesperson of the Laribikusi ruling house, emphasized that they were asked to present the eldest member of their house, but no time limit was given.
They also claimed that they were not informed about the unsuccessful meetings with the Local Government, and no explanation was provided for the term “unsuccessful meeting.”
“The Laribikusi ruling house believes that the government’s actions were a manipulation to install a preferred candidate from the Akalako ruling house. They are determined to ensure that their rights are respected and that the nomination process is fair and transparent.
“The people of Eruwa initiated the process for selecting a new Eleruwa following the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2019.¹ The Laribikusi ruling house is calling for the nomination process to be returned to their house, citing their right to produce the next Eleruwa.
“Laribikusi ruling house is one of the two ruling houses recognized by Eruwa tradition and Eleruwa Chieftaincy Declaration of 1958.
“The confirmation and recognition of these two ruling houses by the Chieftaincy Declaration of 1958 also provide for the order of rotation between these ruling houses, that is, Laribikusi and Akalako. The rotation is one after the other.
“We believe that we have the obligation to respond to a statement credited to the commissioner for Information, Prince Dotun Oyelade that Laribikusi ruling house was unable to present candidates within the fourteen day-notice given to them by the government, and that as a result, government had to shift the nomination process back to Akalako ruling house which was the ruling house that produced the last recognized Eleruwa, Oba Bolanle Olaniyan (Gbajumola II).
“This narrative from the government can be best described with a proverbial saying that “If you want to hang a dog, you give that dog a bad name”.
“We maintain our position that nobody in the administration of this process either at Ibarapa East Local government or the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters gave us (Olaribikusi ruling house) fourteen-day Nomination Notice in line with the Chiefs Law of Oyo State.
“We challenge the chairman of Ibarapa East local government, Kazeem Arogundade to publish to the world to see that 14-day nomination notice he claimed to give us and our acknowledgement of that notice knowing fully what is at stake.
“We here by today tell the whole world that after many court cases and intrigues the pervaded the ascendancy to Eleruwa throne from 1995 to 2019 when the Supreme court of Nigeria made a final pronouncement on the matter, we were ready to present candidates to fill the vacant throne and we expected the government to call on us through our local government to do so.
“We are here to tell the whole world that th only message we received from the government of Oyo State through Ibarapa East Local government was an invitation sent to each of the section within Laribikusi ruling house for a meeting with the “Management of Ibarapa East local government on 4th November, 2024.
This letter was dated November 1st, 2024 and signed by the local government chairman, Hon. Kazeem Arogundade (Show the letter to the press). This invitation letter did not contain the agenda of that meeting.
We all reported to the Local Government Secretariat on November 4th, 2024 to honor that invitation. In that meeting, the chairman informed our representatives at the meeting to present the eldest member of Laribikusi as required by the Eleruwa Chieftaincy Declaration (1958) for the nomination process to fill the vacant stool of Eleruwa to kick off.
“Knowing fully that it was the turn of Laribikusi ruling house to fill the vacancy. Unfortunately, that nomination process never commenced as it was truncated by the same Local Government before its birth.
“We were asked by the Chairman to provide the name of the eldest member of our ruling house right on the spot. You will recall that I have stated here (at this venue) that we were not aware of what the meeting was all about before hand. We requested that the chairman allow us to report back to the family and he granted the request.
“We want to state clearly here that no time limit was given to us by the Local Government Chairman or his team for presenting the eldest member. Nothing was mentioned about fourteen-day nomination notice at this meeting.
“Knowing that choosing the eldest member cannot be an endless process, the four quarters constituting Laribikusi ruling house met and also met with the chairman and his team on November 7th, and 19th 2024 to update him with progress and resolution from our meetings.
“However, in another meeting scheduled by Hon. Arogundade at his office, on December 3rd, 2024, Hon. Arogundade fixed January 16th, 2025 for the family to bring the name of the eldest member to his office.
“We urged him to give us an earlier date, but he insisted on January 16th date. At that time, we did not know that another plan to return the nomination back to Akaloko ruling house for reasons that have now become obvious to the world was going on secretly. No one should blame us for trusting our government to follow due process.
“Having selected the eldest member of Laribikusi ruling house, the family secretary, Prince Abolade Ijaola wrote a letter dated December 20th, 2024 to convey our readiness to present the eldest member of Laribikusi ruling house to the management of Ibarapa East Local Government. (Show a copy of that letter to attendants). To our shocking surprise, we received a letter dated 30th December, 2024 from the local government on January 7th, 2025 stating that they have compiled a report of the unsuccessful meetings with Laribikusi ruling house and have forwarded same to the State Government for further directives which will be communicated back to us when received. No further communication received from the management of Ibarapa East Local government till date.
“Furthermore, management of Ibarapa East local government had NOT explained to us what they meant by “unsuccessful meeting”.
“We were taken back by the shifting of nomination process for the vacant throne of Eleruwa back to Akalako ruling house. It started like a rumor before it crystalized to monumental manipulation to actualize a script to install an individual that certain power brokers were head-bent to force on Eruwa people.
“On January 13th, 2025 we presented the name of the eldest member of the family, Pa (Prince Oladejo Akinlade to Ibarapa East Local Government. This letter was received and signed for by the personal assistant to Hon. Kazeem Arogundade.
“With this, whole world should know that the process of nomination which by law should commence with fourteen day-notice did not at any time arise having seen what transpired at the palace in Eruwa on Jan 13th, 2025, as managed by the Kazeem Arogundade and which in quick successions culminated in the issuing of certificate and staff of office and to Samuel Adegbola March 6th, 2025, their premeditated agenda rolled out with impunity is as clear as DAYLIGHT.”
