Ruling house picks next Olugbon

HEAD of the Orisafayo Ruling House of Orile Igbon in Surulere local government area of Oyo State, Chief Oladejo Ojo Orisafayo, has said that there is an age long tradition and procedure to kingship throne of Olugbon of Orile Igbon that is backed by gazette.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Monday, Chief Orisafayo said that the three qualified aspirants to the throne of Olugbon from the Orisafayo ruling house had participated in the kingship election on Sunday, December 18, 2016 as stated in the gazette.

The head of the ruling house, who said that the Olugbon obaship title was being rotated among five ruling houses, namely; Adeyelu (that produced the last oba), Ajayi-Orisafayo, Ogungbade, Oyedepo/Monitola and Amaka/Tanmoni, added that the Ajayi ruling house was next.

Reacting to a publication on claim of an aspirant to the Olugbon title, published last weekend, Chief Orisafayo said that such claim from a person who did not participate in the obaship election conducted by 18 elders of the ruling house, was capable of breaching existing peace and tranquility in the area.

He identified qualified aspirants who participated in the election to the Olugbon throne to include Prince Samuel Oladejo Popoola with one vote, Prince James Afolabi Adunola Orisafayo with six votes, and Prince Sulaiman Adeyemi Orisafayo with 11 votes.

The head of the ruling house, who frowned at the purported report, said that the claimant to the throne was not in any way related to the Orisafayo ruling house of Orile Igbon, said that historical facts pointed that all children of the ancestral Orisafayo, had their roots in the area and not outside the compound.

Chief Orisafayo said that the royal stool of Orile Igbon was not just an ordinary kingship title that every Tom, Dick and Harry could aspire to occupy, adding that qualified aspirants must have been elected by the elders of the incumbent ruling house.

He said different groups of people could sympathize at the demise of a community leader or royal father, particular family members from maternal or paternal sides, friends and well-wishers, adding that it was only the qualified princes of the ruling house that are entitled to the throne.

The head of the Orisafayo ruling house, who said that journalists should be guided by historical facts and figure to guard against being misled by over ambitious people, advised members of the public to disregard the publication as figment of imagination of the claimant.

The ruling house also appealed to Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State to expedite action on the installation of a new Olugbon to forestall unforeseen activities of some people who may want to use the vacuum to foment trouble.