Oyo waits for Ladoja to take crown as Mogajis head to court

The Oyo State government yesterday said it was expecting the former governor of the state and Osi Olubadan of Ibadanland, Senator Rasidi Ladoja, to pick his own crown.

The Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Mr. Bimbo Kolade, stated this while addressing newsmen in Ibadan.

According to Kolade, Ladoja said he was not available to receive the crown and the beaded-crown last Sunday and he didn’t reject it outright, adding that the government has kept it for him pending the time he will be available for it.

Ladoja had in a statement issued by his media aide, Alhaji Lanre Latinwo on Tuesday, said he would not accept the crown because he would not be a king without domain, alleging further that the recent review of Olubadan chieftaincy was particularly targeted at him.

Meanwhile, over 300 Mogajis (family heads) have headed to court, asking the governor to either reverse the promotion of the Baales (village heads) to the position of royal highnesses or await the court’s verdict which would bring the reform into disrepute.

One of the spokesmen of the group, Chief Wale Oladoja, a family head of the Akinsola from Labiran compound Ibadan confirmed a press release on Wednesday evening earlier endorsed by him and another Mogaji from Adanla compound, Chief Abdul Jelili Karimu.