Members of the Oyerinade Ruling House of Oniware of Iware in Afijio Local Government Area of Oyo State welcomed Governor Seyi Makinde’s suspension of Alhaji Abdulrasheed Adetunji as the monarch of the town yesterday.
According to them, the governor has done the right thing by directing the monarch to stop parading himself as the Oniware of Iware.
Governor Makinde suspended the monarch because the dispute and legal challenges surrounding his appointment to the Oniware stool have yet to be decided by the court. A letter written to Adetunji through the Executive Chairman of Afijio Local Government Area by the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters stated that the process of appointing him had not been completed. He was warned to stop parading himself as the Oniware of Iware pending the court’s determination.
Alhaji Adetunji was appointed in 2020 by some individuals in the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo without the government’s approval. He had written to the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters applying for a staff of office and coronation.
Reacting to the order, the Oyerinade Ruling House of Iware, in a statement by Prince Moses Ifekunle, Prince Onaolapo Ajibade, and Prince Olunide Opafunmulayo, expressed profound gratitude to Governor Makinde for the timely suspension.
The Oniware Chieftaincy Family stated, “Since there is no Oniware of Iware on the throne at present, no one is authorized to sell any Iware land,” warning all those to whom Alhaji Abdulrasheed Owoade Adeniyi Adetunji sold Iware ancestral land not to accept any land in Iware from him as a replacement. The statement urged those individuals to demand a refund of their money, asserting that the Oyerinade Ruling House of Iware has not authorized any sales of their land.