Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, and the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji, may be heading for a showdown over the appointment to the office of the State Iyaloja General, the head of markets in the state.

In a video that went viral on Saturday, Oba Oyetunji declared that Chief Awawu Asindemade, the Iyalode of Osogbo, had returned to the office of Iyaloja General of Osun State.

Asindemade, who held the office during the reigns of former Osun State governors Rauf Aregbesola and Adegboyega Oyetola, was replaced by the incumbent governor in 2023 with Mrs Mary Oyebode.

Asindemade had kept her distance from the Adeleke government, as she was mainly seen at events organised by the All Progressives Congress.

But the Ataoja, who spoke in Yoruba in the viral video, said he instructed Asindemade to work for Adeleke’s re-election in the August 15 governorship poll, adding that, having complied with the directive, he had returned her to the office of the Iyaloja General of Osun State.

At the event where the Ataoja reinstated Asindemade to the office, the royal father said, “I am the only person who can appoint the Iyaloja General.

“I told her (Asindemade) to stay calm and work for the re-election of Governor Ademola Adeleke and she did.

“Since she has done what I wanted, I have to do what she wants also. Now, I am returning her royal beads as the Iyaloja General. I want Governor Adeleke to be at peace with her.”

But reacting to the development, Adeleke, in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, obtained in Osogbo on Saturday, insisted that Oyebode remained the Iyaloja General of Osun State.

Adeleke also said the authority to make appointments such as that of the Iyaloja General was vested only in the state governor.

“Any announcement from any other quarter including the Osogbo Royal Palace is null and void. Mrs Oyebode remains the legally appointed Iyaloja General under the authority of the state government,” the statement read partly.

The governor also urged market associations and womenfolk across the state to ignore any appointment of a new Iyaloja General, noting that Oyebode would continue to enjoy the full support and recognition of the state government in her capacity as the duly appointed occupant of the office.

He further appealed to “Institutions and individuals to be mindful of the law and their assigned mandates under the law”, advising that institutions and individuals should desist from actions capable of disturbing the peace of the state. (The PUNCH)

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