Ibadan Chieftaincy review: Oyo APC commends Olubadan for resorting to court

The All Progressives Congress (APC), Oyo State chapter has commended the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, for resorting to court for justice over the disputed Ibadan Chieftaincy review.
The party in a statement by its Director of Media, Research and Strategy, Dr AbdulAzeez Olatunde, said the Olubadan’s move was honourable to advance his oppposition to the review.
On positions that the state government withheld the salaries of the Olubadan for six months, the party said it discovered from the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters that allowances meant for the Olubadan and other members of the Local Government Traditional Council and the Oyo State Council of Traditional Rulers have been paid up to date.
APC added that the Olubadan’s allowance was not treated in isolation but alongside that of other traditional rulers in the state and others on the payroll of the government.
According to him, the state government paid the Olubadan just as it paid others on the payroll of government, chiding notions that the state singled out the monarch for victimisation.
“Contrary to the six months outstanding being peddled, the state government has paid all the monarchs in the state up to June 2017 from the appropriated fund of the approved budget and that is the same month which workers in the state have been paid up to.
“These details were sourced from the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters through the Director in charge, Mr Zaccheus Jaiyeola. We challenge the Olubadan’s media aide to produce documentary evidence that the state governor has stopped payment of Olubadan’s allowance.
“Our father, the Olubadan receives multiple tax free payments from all the eleven local governments in Ibadan land. For instance, he has collected up till August 2017 from Ibadan South East LG, Ido LG, Ibadan South West LG, Ibadan North LG, Oluyole LG and Ibadan North East while Lagelu LG has paid up to July 2017. Egbeda and Ona Ara LGs have paid up to June 2017. Only Akinyele LG is behind in meeting its financial obligations and it is not peculiar to the Olubadan but to the generality of its payroll.”
“We in the APC, hold and respect our royal fathers in the state. We accord them their due respect and we will continue to support them. We however appeal to them to separate politics from communal development as well as chieftaincy matters,” the statement held.