THE Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi yesterday faulted some remarks allegedly made by the Ooni of Ife Oba Okunade Sijuade on the leadership crisis rocking the Oyo State traditional institution, saying his position on the matter is against historical facts.
Oba Adeyemi, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Fehintola Azeez which was made available to reporters in Ibadan also accused the Ife monarch of distorting history, urged him to restrict himself to issues within his domain.
The Alaafin who is currently locked in a supremacy battle between the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Samuel Odulana and the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Jimoh Oyewumi over the headship of the state traditional council said since the issue at hand had no bearing with Ile-Ife, Oba Sijuwade has no business with it.
Both Odulana and Oyewumi had been at loggerheads with the Alaafin over his permanent Chairmanship of the Obas council in the state.
The duo had called for rotation of the chairmanship position among the three leading Obas and has since boycotted the council meetings.
While the Ooni, in an interview at the Centenary birthday of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, gave hard knocks to Oba Adeyemi over his stance on the matter and tacitly supported the Olubadan and Soun on their clamour for rotational chairmanship, Oba Adeyemi, in his statement, said the position of the Ooni on the matter is one sided and an invitation to anarchy.
On the claims by the Ooni that Oba Adeyemi was ruling over a 'dead empire,' the Alaafin reminded the royal father that as far back as 1938, while his position was listed as the first in the rank of first class Obas, the Ooni was listed as the fifth.
He said, "The Ooni, who is now claiming superiority over the Alaafin, as recent as 1938, was listed as the fifth in rank among the first class traditional rulers in Yorubaland, while the Alaafin was listed as the first".