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Barely 48 hours to the governorship election in Oyo State, the Olubadan-in-Council, on Thursday, declared that it had no anointed candidate among the array of candidates vying for the state’s top position.
Some online media earlier reported that the incumbent governor, Seyi Makinde, who is aiming for a second term under the Peoples Democratic Party, had received the traditional leaders’ endorsement.
The Ekerin Olubadan, High Chief Hamidu Ajibade, who debunked the claim on behalf of the council in a statement, said there was nothing like that, saying, “The governor actually invited us to a meeting in his Ikolaba residence which we attended as traditional heads.
“At the meeting, he told us that he would be contesting on Saturday and sought our support and prayer. There and then we told him that God would grant him his heart’s desires. We did not do or say any other thing than offer him prayers which we are expected to do as elders and custodians of our tradition and culture.
“I blame the media for their wrong interpretation, and a misplaced one for that matter, because, by our positions, we are fathers of all and we are not expected to have favourite among our various children contesting the same position. If you look at the gubernatorial candidates in the race in the state, I don’t think we would have less than 98 per cent of them as sons of Ibadanland. So, what kind of a father would choose just one and neglect others?
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“What’s more, our revered father, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Lekan Balogun, Alli Okunmade II, who heads the council, said to have endorsed the governor was not even in the know of the meeting talk less of being part of it. So, how would the head of a council be absent at a meeting where such a vital pronouncement would be made?”
The council urged the general public to discountenance the earlier report as nothing but the inner wish of the writer and promoter and which remains at variance with the exalted positions as fathers of all.
