The Ekiti State Government has refuted the swirling rumour that it allegedly masterminded the dethronement of Alayegunle of Ayegunle Ekiti, in Ijero Local Government Area , HRH Oba Folorunso Aderiye.
The government said the crisis leading to his rumoured deposition was a raging internal squabbles between the monarch and his chiefs, thereby dispelling the accusation that the government of Governor Biodun Oyebanji was the mastermind of the alleged removal.
The Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Chief (Mrs) Monisade Afuye, gave the clarification in a statement made available by her Special Assistant on Media, Victor Ogunje, on Thursday.
The Deputy Governor noted that there has been a simmering crisis between Oba Aderiye and some chiefs in the town, which she said the government was handling with caution, so that it won’t snowball into anarchy.
“Our attention has been drawn to the baseless rumour milling rounds that the Ekiti State Government was stage-managed and sanctioned the purported removal of Alayegunle of Ayegunle Ekiti, HRH Oba Folorunso Aderiye.
“We are saying with all sense of responsibility that the government of Governor Biodun Oyebanji has no hand in the purported removal. Whatever transpired must have been a culmination of the prolonged crisis between the monarch and some chiefs, which we are handling with seriousness it deserves.
“The Ekiti State Government warns those peddling such unfounded and divisive rumour to desist, because Governor Biodun Oyebanji wont engage in any act that could debase the traditional institution”, she stated.
Further dissociating the government of any involvement in the purported removal of Oba Aderiye, Mrs Afuye clarified that the state government won’t meddle in the internal workings of the traditional institution, in such a manner that could deride any monarch, the way the rumour peddlers had painted it.
Mrs Afuye warned that Governor Oyebanji, as a rabid lover of peace and unity, won’t tolerate any infraction that could stoke the fire of acrimony, violence and bloodshed in any town in the state.
She stated that Governor Oyebanji, has demonstrated through his robust relationship with the traditional rulers that he has enormous respect for all the monarchs, and won’t get involved in any action that could desecrate the institution that has become a stabilising factor in the land.
Mrs Afuye stated that the state government has contacted all the relevant stakeholders in the town, with the mission to restore normalcy to the beleaguered community as quickly as possible