Anglican Church declines Ekiti monarch’s attempt to move chair used by Oyebanji to palace
The Babamuboni Memorial Anglican Church in Iyin-Ekiti has rejected a request from the Oluyin of Iyin-Ekiti, Adeniyi Adeola Ajakaiye, to transfer to the palace a chair used by Biodun Oyebanji, governor of Ekiti, during a church event.
The monarch had demanded that the chair be handed over to the palace, a request the church swiftly rebuffed per The Cable report.
Background
On May 31, 2026, Oyebanji attended the 60th birthday anniversary and thanksgiving service of Omolade Foluso Bamidele, younger brother of Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, held in honour of the lawmaker, who hails from Iyin-Ekiti. The event, which took place days before the 2026 Ekiti governorship election, was attended by several political dignitaries.
After the thanksgiving service, the Oluyin of Iyin-Ekiti requested the chair on which the governor had sat.
In a letter dated June 17, 2026, and addressed to the vicar of the church, the Oluyin’s palace said the chair should be conveyed to the palace courtyard for “royal custody and appropriate traditional rites.”
“After due consultation and deliberation, the Oluyin-in-Council has resolved as follows: That the said chair which was the subject of the grievous incident be conveyed forthwith to the Palace of the Oluyin for royal custody and appropriate traditional rites,” the letter read.
It added: “That the replacement chair to be commissioned henceforth shall be placed under strict and adequate guard at all times, to avert any future desecration or recurrence of such grave oversight against the sanctity of the stool.
“The Oluyin-in-Council views this development as a reaffirmation of the mutual respect and cordiality that has long existed between the palace and Babamuboni Memorial Anglican Church.”
The letter was signed by Elejide Omobulejo, secretary of the Oluyin-in-Council.
The church responds
In a letter dated June 18, 2026, and addressed to the palace, the church said it could not “surrender, transfer, or remove” any church property for purposes outside procedures prescribed by ecclesiastical authority.
The church said the chair in question no longer exists in the form in which it was used during the thanksgiving service, noting that the pews and related furnishings had been removed from their previous configuration as part of an ongoing refurbishment of the building.
“Consequently, the church is not at liberty to surrender, transfer, or remove dedicated church property for external purposes outside the procedures prescribed by ecclesiastical authority,” the letter read. “As custodians of these properties, we are duty-bound to preserve and administer them in accordance with the doctrine, discipline, and governance of the church.
“The Anglican Church is an episcopally led and synodically governed institution. Decisions affecting church property, sacred furnishings, and matters of ecclesiastical administration are not exercised solely at the discretion of local officers but are governed by established constitutional and canonical processes.”
The church added that compliance with the palace’s request would raise administrative implications beyond the authority of the local church, and clarified that the specific chair referenced in the correspondence no longer exists in its original form.
According to the church, several pews had already been distributed to other churches for continued use, while new pews were being installed. The particular chair in question, it said, had since undergone reconstruction, resizing, and integration into the church’s altar furnishing as part of approved renovation works, and therefore “no longer exists as a separate or identifiable item capable of being removed and conveyed elsewhere.”
The letter was signed by Falodun Taiwo, secretary of the Parish Church Council (PCC); Adebayo Busayo Abiodun, People’s Warden; and Samuel Sunday Agunbiade, vicar and archdeacon.
