By Dele Moses, Ilorin
The Dada Ruling House of Share community in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State has called on the state government and other authorities involved in the appointment of the new Olupako, the first class traditional ruler of the community, to hold on to the list of candidates already recommended to them.
The ruling house made the call in response to the claim by one Alhaji Bolaji Azeez who some media reports quoted as describing a retired civil servant in the state, Johnson Adediran, as the candidate of the house for the vacant stool.
The ruling house in a statement signed by its secretary, Abdullahi Ahmed Adebayo, faulted the qualification and competency of Azeez to speak on its behalf, insisting that neither Azeez nor Adediran was a member of the Dada dynasty.
“Mr Johnson Adediran is not a prince in Share because he is not related to any of the two Ruling Houses in Share. It is a cold fact that his father or forefather did not come from any of the Ruling Houses,” the statement read.
The Dada Ruling House while cataloging the genealogy of the previous Olupako the House has produced warned that it would not accept “any deliberate attempt to falsify the history of Share Royal House.”
The House listed the Olupako it has produced as Dada, Oyadeyi, Abubakar, Zubair, Buhari, Mohammed, Suleiman and challenged Azeez to point out where the name of Adediran’s ancestors reflected in the list.
The dynasty stated that all the candidates’ names submitted to the kingmakers for consideration to the stool of Olupako had one of their ancestors at one time or the other as the monarch of the community and were buried in the town.
The ruling house advised that there should not be any imposition of an improper person as the Olupako.
It declared: “We hereby emphatically assert that Mr Johnson Adediran is not entitled to the throne of Olupako of Share.
“We therefore want to call on Ifelodun Traditional Council, Kwara State Traditional Council and the Kwara State Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and all and sundry to disregard the call made by Alhaji Bolaji Azeez and ensure that the list of the four candidates recommended for the appointment for Olupako stool remain sacrosanct.
“The voting that took place at Igbaja should also be discountenanced since it is against the tradition and custom of Share in the selection and appointment of Olupako. This is more so that the king makers have written to withdraw the voting process as contained in their letter addressed to the chairman, Ifelodun Local Government and copied to the Ifelodun Traditional Council, Kwara State Traditional Council and Hon. Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.