Iree Ruling Houses, Stakeholders Reject Osun Govt. White Paper On Aree Stool

..say selecting another monarch amounts to traditional absurdity

Five out of six ruling houses including other stakeholders in Iree community have rejected the white paper released by the Osun State government nulifying the process which produced Oba Raphael Oluponle as the Aree of Iree.

The Oṣun State government had last week released a white paper directing a fresh selection process of the Aare of Iree and advise the King makers to withdraw their case in court to pave way for a new process.

At a press conference in Iree on Wednesday, members of the ruling houses and other stakeholders in the town through a speech delivered by the secretary of ruling houses of the town, Gbenga Olatunji called on foremost traditional rulers in Yoruba land to prevail on governor Ademola Adelele to rescind his decision.

Olatunji, in the address said “We are here today to express our total rejection to the pronouncement and call on well meaning Nigerians especially our royal fathers in Yoruba Land to prevail on the governor not to debase traditional institution and urge the people of Iree community to remain calm and be law abiding.

“To say the least, the news of the said white paper came as shock and surprise and least expected from a government that always place emphasis on due process and rule of law. We are going to resist it through the instrumentality of the law.”

The secretary of all ruling houses in Iree said the have installed the Aree of Iree land and were not ready to install another as it would amount to traditional absurdity.

“It is to the public knowledge that on November 7, 2022, the selection of Ọba Ademola Oluponle was approved by the state government and subsequently presented Staff of Office after completing all the traditional rites including the compulsory four days seclusion.

“To our surprise, on November 27, 2022, when Governor Ademola Adeleke came into power, through Executive Order, the Aree of Iree was asked to vacate the palace and subsequently, some hoodlums invaded the place and vandalized the major facility to create an impress of crisis. It must be noted that things were moving fine and there were celebrations in the palace every day, until the said Executive Order was issued” Olatunji said.

He however described Governor Adeleke’s decision as politically-motivated, ill-conceived and capable of destabilising the peace of Iree

He said “The government promised to set up a committee to investigate the process of selection and appointment of Ọba Oluponle, and before this some King makers have approached the a State High Court in respect of the same subject mater.

“Throughout the sittings of the committees constituted by the state government, it is important to state that only the petitioners were invited while none of the respondents, either the ruling house that produced the King or warrant chiefs or the king were invited for interaction to get fair insight to the selection process. We therefore wondered how they arrived at the conclusion of setting aside valid and legitimate selection process.”

Critical stakeholders in the selection and installation of Aree of Iree who also spoke at the press conference said all that was required had been done and could not be repeated for any other person once the Aree is still alive.