I didn’t confer ‘King of Street’ title on Portable — Oba Akamo

The Olu of Itori, Oba Abdulfatai Akamo, on Monday, denied the news making the round that he conferred a chieftaincy title of ‘King of Street’ on controversial singer, Habeeb Okikiola Olalomi ‘portable’.

The monarch in a statement made available to newsmen by his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs, titled ‘Setting the records straight’ said the story was untrue, denying any close relationship with Singer Portable.

He explained that ‘Portable’ was named ‘King of the streets’ by Farmers Association in Ore, Ondo, sometimes in 2024, saying he would never desecrate the rich culture and heritage of the Yoruba tradition.

Oba Akamo said ‘Portable’ adorned himself with the costume to the grand finale of his 21st coronation anniversary as a guest.

He therefore urged his colleague, the Eselu of Eselu, Oba Akinyemi Akintunde, to retract the statement as contained in the open letter.

Oba Akamo wondered why Eselu refused to cross check the facts from him before writing such an unsolicited open letter.

The statement read thus; “The attention of the Palace of the Olu of Itori Egbaland has been drawn to an open letter originating from the Eselu of Iselu, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi alleging the Olu of Itori Egbaland, His Royal Majesty, Oba Abdulfatai Akorede Akamo of purportedly installing Portable as King of street.

“This allegation in its entirety is unfounded, baseless and incorrect as Olu of Itori has been on the exalted throne of his forebears for more than 21 years and would not be involved in any act that can desecrate the rich culture and heritage of the Yoruba tradition.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the controversial singer Portable was named King of Street by Farmers Association in Ore, Ondo state, sometime in December 2024. The event, which was widely circulated in the print media, stirred controversy on social media. Check the punch newspaper of 7,December 2024. The controversial investiture of the singer was published in the paper.

“The controversial singer even posted it on his verified social media accounts.

“During the just concluded 21st coronation Anniversary of the Olu of Itori which took place at Olu of Itori’s Palace on 28, February 2025, the controversial singer was dressed in the costumes to the event as a guest. He was invited by the official photographer to the Palace.

“On his arrival, he was requested to remove the costumes as it is a desecration of the rich culture and heritage of the Yoruba race. The singer immediately removed the costumes before entering into the event where the occasion took place.

“As a matter of fact, the controversial singer was brought forward to pay homage to Olu of Itori without the costumes, and he did not appear in those costumes throughout his stay at the event.

“It is important to set the records straight as the Olu of Itori can not be a party to distortion of the rich culture and tradition of the Yoruba race.

“We implore the Eselu of Iselu, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi, to retract the statement and put the accurate account of details into the public without further delays as he could have verified with the Olu of Itori personally as a colleague before writing this unsolicited open letter.

“This is the honorable path to follow as we would not like to dwell further on this matter.”