Ekiti elders intervene in Fayemi, 16 monarchs’ feud

EKITI State council of elders has called on Governor Kayode Fayemi and the 16 Ekiti Obas under the acronym Pelupelu to sheath their sword over the appointment of Alawe of Ilawe Ekiti, Oba Adebanji Alabi, as chairman of the state council of traditional  rulers.

The elders appealed to Fayemi to find a way of resolving the logjam with the traditional rulers to save the state from crisis and prevent the situation from being hijacked by miscreants.

Nigeria loses N345m in 12days over South-West border restrictions

Fayemi had  appointed and inaugurated Alawe, who was promoted to Pelupelu by government in 1947 as chairman of the council.

The 16 aggrieved aboriginal Pelupelu Obas opposed the action and filed a suit  at the Ado Ekiti High Court, saying Alawe was not eligible to head the council, since he was promoted to the rank.

They urged the court to nullify the appointment, saying only the aboriginal Pelupelu Obas  who pioneered  the council in 1887 are eligible to be chairman.

The chairman of the council, Professor Joseph Oluwasanmi, who spoke to journalists appealed that time had come for the two warring factions to sheath their swords.

He said, “we, as senior citizens had the opportunity of discussing with the governor once and the Obas twice. Each side, we must admit, quoted relevant portions  of documents, ancient and recent, to support the chairmanship being extended beyond the 16.

“The problem we now face as a state is that the situation which had assumed proportions beyond anyone’s estimation must be brought down for Ekiti to be in peace and harmony.

“We refuse to visualise a situation whereby the government and traditional rulers are at loggerheads, a situation which can be exploited by miscreants.

“Looking back into history, we must consider ourselves lucky to have a political entity of our own,  contestants from other parts of the country with huge financial muscles and influences failed to beat us to the game.

“We appeal to our royal fathers to continue to display maturity and remain fathers of all as in our age old tradition and culture.”