Crisis has hit the selection process to fill the vacant stool of the Olowu of the Owu Kingdom in Abeokuta, Ogun State, as two royal families have cautioned Governor Dapo Abiodun against the appointment of Prince Saka Matemilola as a candidate for the stool.
A prince, Tajudeen Adelani, and a princess, Aminat Adesina, from the two royal families, have separately petitioned the Ogun State government, warning against the appointment of Matemilola who they described as a non-indigene of the Owu Kingdom.
In their separate petition to the Ministries of Justice, Local Government, and Chieftaincy Affairs, the petitioners said Matemilola “is a native of Ibadan in Ibadan North East Local Government Area of Oyo State”, making him ineligible to the throne of the Olowu.
They insisted that the candidate had alluded to his Ibadan indigeneship in an affidavit he swore dated May 15, 2000, at the High Court Registry, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
But in a telephone interview with our correspondent yesterday, Matemilola described the affidavit he swore to, as “correct and consistent.”
“What I am saying is that the affidavit is absolutely correct and consistent and I also have a birth certificate to it which shows I was born in Ibadan. So, just check the consistency of that, check the meaning of the word ‘native’ as opposed to the word ‘indigene,’ then do your story.
“Apart from that, no other reaction from me,” Matemilola said.
