The Osun State government has responded to allegations of bias and illegality levelled against it by the Aragbiji of Iragbiji.

The government also accused the monarch of twisting facts and playing politics with a matter of justice and equity in the Iragbiji kingship system.

In a statement signed by Dosu Babatunde, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs on Saturday, the government absolved Governor Ademola Adeleke of any partisan interest in the matter as alleged by the Aragbiji.

The statement also affirmed that the administration has all the legal rights and powers to act on state matters, including revision of previous decisions if situation calls for it.

The state government posited that the decision of the State Executive Council only reversed a previous state action which apparently denied a ruling house the due rights to be included in the chieftaincy declaration.

It rebuked the Aragbiji for wilfully and disrespectfully violating protocols by leveling baseless allegations and insults on the state governor.

The statement which debunked the monarch’s accusations that the governor did not like Iragbiji sons and daughters, listed several road projects ongoing in the town, the directive of the governor for upgrade of tourists sites in the town and a recent personal presence of the governor at Iragbiji for an SDG event.

“The administration of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola in 2010 set up a One Man Judicial Panel of Inquiry into the Aragbiji of Iragbiji Chieftaincy Declaration to include Lagbua Family as a Ruling House. The Panel was headed by a serving Judge of the Osun State High Court of Justice, Osogbo; Hon Justice Dr A.A Aderibigbe and its setting up was as a result of sustained agitation by the Lagbua Family of Iragbiji to the Government.

“The Panel sat between March 8 and 31, 2010 at the High Court Hall, Osogbo and all relevant stakeholders in the Aragbiji of Iragbiji Chieftaincy testified before the Panel. It submitted its report to the Government on 28th July, 2010 but the report was not considered by the State Executive Council until April 3, 2013 when in its wisdom, the then Executive Council rejected the Panel’s recommendation on the basis that the request of the Lagbua Family was in the remote past. The decision was then published in the Government Official Gazette.

“It should be noted that as at the time when the State Executive Council met in 2013, an Iragbiji son was the Chief of Staff to former Governor Aregbesola. Reports then indicated that the Council was largely influenced to ignore the merit of the panel’s report by simply throwing it out.

“However, the Lagbua Family continued its agitation and appealed to the present administration for redress. His Excellency, the Executive Governor later approved the constitution of a Committee to come up with a White Paper on the Report of the One Man Judicial Panel composed of senior technocrats in Government.

“The new Committee recommended that the Government should set aside the decision of the then State Executive Council which rejected the recommendation of the One Man Judicial Panel of Inquiry and implement its recommendations on the basis that:

“The reason for the rejection of the Panel’s recommendation had ab initio been addressed and resolved by the Panel of Inquiry which took judicial evidence from all the parties. The Panel of Inquiry in one of its findings agreed that the claim of the Lagbua Family is not remote because they have consistently been agitating for their inclusion in the Chieftaincy Declaration of Aragbiji of Iragbiji, having written series of letters and petitions to the Governments of Western Region, Western State, Oyo State and Osun State.

“The Panel found that Lagbua Family was included in the draft Aragbiji Chieftaincy Declarations of 1951 and 1956 but was excluded when the Declaration was to be registered in 1958.

“Furthermore, in arriving at its recommendation for the inclusion of the Lagbua Family in the Aragbiji of Iragbiji Chieftaincy Declaration, the Panel found that as recent as 1942, one Oyekanmi, a member of the Lagbua Family was an Elemo, Head of all the Princes in Iragbiji, a position recognized in the present Chieftaincy Declaration.

“Based on these already established facts, the State Executive Council at its meeting of Wednesday 29th January, 2025 vacated the earlier decision of the State Executive Council of April 3, 2013 and approved the recommendation of the One Man Judicial Panel of Inquiry that the Lagbua Family be included in the Aragbiji of Iragbiji Chieftaincy Declaration.

“To ensure that the rights and privileges of the existing four ruling Houses are not jeopardized, the Government further directed that in the new order of rotation, Lagbua should be the fifth and last Ruling House.

“These are the facts of the matter and they are laid bare to the public to show that this present administration does not operate on sentiments but on well laid out facts and in the spirit of justice and fair play”, the statement noted.

The state government reassures the public that its decision on the Iragbiji Chieftaincy Declaration is not targeted at anybody and is not meant to disrupt public peace.

On Friday, the Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba Abdulrasheed Olabomi, had rejected the Osun State government’s decision to recognise another family as part of the ruling houses in the town.

Addressing a press conference at his palace, Oba Olabomi urged the state governor, Ademola Adeleke to reconsider the move, warning that it could incite unrest in the community.

Olabomi stated that the decision was unsolicited and alleged that it was politically motivated.

He noted that no panel of inquiry had recommended such an action since the inception of Governor Adeleke’s administration.

The traditional ruler expressed concerns that the move could destabilise Iragbiji, which he said had remained peaceful for nearly six centuries.

He insisted that Iragbiji has only four recognised ruling houses and that the newly proposed family was not among them.

The monarch described the decision as a threat to the town’s stability and urged the state government to halt the process.

He appealed to Governor Adeleke to prioritise peace and avoid actions that could divide the indigenes or trigger conflicts in the community.