The Amodo royal family of the Ogboru ruling house has declared that following the demise of Oba Okunade Sijuwade, it is now the turn of the Ogboru to produce the next Ooni of Ife.
Although the late Sijuwade was produced by the Ogboru, the head of Amodo family, Aderoju Olaomi, said when it was the turn of the Giesi in 1980 to produce the Ooni, they sold their right for N5m to Sijuwade.
Olaomi staked the Amodo’s claim to the revered stool at the family house in Ife, Osun State, on Saturday at a meeting where leaders of the family unanimously presented Peter Adetipe as the sole candidate of the family for the race to the Ooni’s stool.
He, therefore, urged the Giesi family to wait for another time to take another shot at the stool.
Other leaders of the family, Dunmade Olaomi and Paul Adetipe expressed the same view at the meeting.
Adetipe said, “In 1980, Giesi ruling house gave away their opportunity to Oba Sijuwade, who just joined his ancestors. Sijuwade met with the Giesi and they demanded N5m, and he paid them; that was in 1980. The amount was huge then. That was how Sijuwade got it. If it was the Ogboru turn in 1980, we would not have presented Sijuwade because Olubuse the first, Sijuwade, who was Olubuse the second, came from the same family.
“We have seven families in Ogboru, there was no way other families would have presented another Olubuse if it was the turn of the Ogboru in 1980. It is the turn of the Amodo family of the Ogboru Ruling House now and God will help us to get what rightly belongs to us”.
A contestant from the Giesi, who is also the Laroka of Wanikin-Ife, Oba Kole Ojutalayo, denied the Amodo’s claim, describing the allegation that the Giesi collected N5m to forfeit its right to the Ooni’s stool as scandalous.
He said, “We know that they will come up with scandalous statements and utterances at this time, it is expected. How could a family accept N5m then and still went to court? There is no sense in what they are saying, It doesn’t add up. There was no offer of money or acceptance of such.
“Giesi is an honourable family, nobody ever sold our right and nobody will do that even in the future. That claim is a fabrication from those who know full well that it is not their turn. They should do things in civilised manners, this is 2015”. (Informationng)