High Chief Rasheed Ladoja, the Osi-Olubadan of Ibadan, says High Chief Lekan Balogun, the Otun-Olubadan of Ibadanland, is the next in line to ascend the throne of Olubadan of Ibadanland.
Ladoja, also a former Governor of Oyo State, made the declaration on Thursday at his Bodija residence in Ibadan.
Ladoja was reacting to the controversy trailing who becomes the next Olubadan since the demise of Oba Saliu Adetunji on Jan. 2.
Ladoja said Balogun, as the most senior, is the next in line to the throne.
“There is no controversy about it. Egbon Lekan Balogun is the most senior in our line and so he is the next in line to the throne.
“For those asking, my ‘body and mouth language’ is that Egbon Lekan is my senior and he is next in line to the Olubadan stool,” the former governor said.
Expressing his displeasure at the unwarranted tension the issue had generated, Ladoja said that he does not have power to make anyone the Olubadan of Ibadanland.
He explained that it was the High Chiefs who instituted two pending suits now generating the unwarranted tension, urging them to withdraw suits.
“In 2017, we instituted a case to challenge the needless reform that Abiola Ajimobi as the Governor wanted to do.
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“Almost all of us as High Chiefs and members of the Olubadan-in-Council agreed to the filing of a suit to challenge him and we gave the task to Michael Lana.
“Lana later called me to say some of the High Chiefs told him to remove their names from the suit, leaving only my elder brother Balogun and myself.
“I asked Lana if I could do it alone and he told me ‘yes’ and we continued. We won the case at the state High Court and Ajimobi appealed.
“In the judgment, the Appeal Court, a few days to the exit of Ajimobi from government, sent the case back to the High Court for a retrial.
“They, Judges of the Appellate Court, said the case was brought under writ of summons instead of originating summons,” he said. (NAN)
