Oyo Mesi, a group of kingmakers, selected a new Alaafin of Oyo last year to replace the late Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, who passed away in April 2022, according to documents obtained by Newslodge.
Almost 18 months after the throne became vacant, there has been no official announcement of a new monarch by the Oyo State government, with many blaming the kingmakers for delaying the selection process.
However, a proclamation document and a court ruling seen by this newspaper have shown that Oyo Mesi selected Lukman Gbadegesin and conveyed the name of the prince of the Agunloye Ruling House to the government since last year.
“We hereby proclaim Prince Lukman Adelodun Gbadegesin as the new Alaafin,” reads the proclamation, signed by the five living members of Oyo Mesi and two non-commissioned officers selected by the government to replace the deceased members of Oyo Mesi.
The kingmakers said they received a list of 82 prince aspirants from Baba Iyaji of Oyo, the chief of all princes, Mukaila Afonja. According to Oyo tradition and the Declaration of Chieftain Alaafin, Baba Iyaji is authorized to collect the names of the would-be princes of the next ruling house and transmit them to the Bashorun, the chief of Oyo Mesi.
The Bashorun would then call a meeting of the kingmakers to vote and the prince with a simple majority would be proclaimed Alaafin.
As the proclamation shows, all the kingmakers signed for Gbadegesin, whose grandfather, Alaafin Bello Gbadegesin Ladigbolu II, was the predecessor of the immediate past Alaafin Adeyemi III.
The proclamation was signed on September 30, 2022. According to the law, an aspirant or the ruling house has 21 days to request the government to contest the election. But no such petition was written.
However, once the 21-day period expired, a prince, Hakeem Ladigbolu, approached the court to set aside the selection process. But in a judgment handed down on December 19, 2023, an Oyo State High Court in Oyo City upheld the process that led to Gbadegesin’s selection, court documents show.
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However, despite the Oyo Mesi proclamation and the court ruling confirming the process, the government has yet to make a formal announcement, raising concerns that political interests may want to undermine the Oyo Mesi and foist someone else on the throne. ancient Yoruba city. .
When contacted, the Bashorun of Oyo, Yusuf Akinade, confirmed that the process had concluded.
He, however, refused to reveal the name of the selected prince. Instead, he said, “we have presented everything to the government, we directed all other questions to the government, but we have completed the process.”
