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Ogbomosho: Soun, Chief Imam feud deepens as court restrains monarch
The feud between the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Afolabi Ghandi Olaoye and the Chief Imam of Ogbomoso, Sheik Teliat Yunus Ayilara appears not abating even after an Oyo State High Court restrained the monarch from removing the Chief Imam.
This is as camps of the Soun and the Imam, yesterday engaged each other in a war of words.
Justice K.B. Olawoyin of an Oyo State High Court sitting in Ogbomoso had yesterday barred the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Afolabi Ghandi Olaoye and kingmakers in Ogbomoso land, led by Chief Sobalaje Otolorin from removing the Chief Imam of Ogbomoso, Sheik Teliat Yunus Ayilara.
Both the Soun and the Chief Imam have been in supremacy battles in the last few months.
The Nation learnt that Muslims in the town under the auspices of ‘Registered Trustees of Ogbomoso Muslim Youths Forum,’ had dragged the traditional ruler and the kingmakers who are members of Soun-In-Council to court over the planned removal of the cleric.
The case with the suit number HOG/31/2024, filed at Oyo State High Court Ogbomoso Division, has Registered Trustees of Ogbomoso Muslim Youths Forum as plaintiffs, while the Soun and the Soun-In-Council are the defendants.
The court, presided over by Justice Olawoyin, on Wednesday 26th June, 2024, barred the traditional ruler and the Soun-In-Council from removing the Chief Imam.
It barred the “defendants/respondents whether by themselves, their agents, privies, officers under their control, or any persons acting on the instruction of the defendants/respondents from suspending or removing the holder of the office of Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomosoland (in the person of Alhaji Yunus Olusina Ayilara) or in anyway disturbing or tampering with the office of Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice.
“The defendants/respondents and their agents, servants and/or privies and/or any persons acting under their control or on their instructions are also restrained in the interim from doing anything under any guise whatsoever to interfere with or impede the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land from carrying out the functions and duties of his office as Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land pending the hearing and determination of the Motion On Notice filed herein.
“I put on record that I have taken judicial notice of the full names of the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land as Alhaji Taliat Yunus Olusina Ayilara and that of the 1 defendant/respondent as His Imperial Majesty Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye (Orumogege III), the Soun of Ogbomoso land.
“The hearing of the Motion on notice dated and filed 26/6/2024 is adjourned to 1/7/2024.”
Following the lingering feud between the Soun and the Chief Imam, a Muslim professional group has called for caution and urged the Christian Associations of Nigeria (CAN) to intervene.
The group under the aegis of ‘No Dull Moment in Islam (NDMI),’ also implored the intervention of the Redeemed Christians Church of Christ (RCCG).
The group through its Coordinator and the Secretary, Professor Abdurazaq Kilani and Barrister Mojeed Abolore Oloyede in a statement made available to The Nation in Osogbo, Osun State, demanded that Oba Ghandi should withdraw a query letter dated 10th June 2024, served on Ayilara, over trip to Saudi Arabia without his permission.
According to the release, “the provocative shenanigans against the Imam must stop forthwith. The order that Soun issued for Chief Imam to return home from Hajj is affront to Muslims in Oyo State.
“We call on the Christian Association of Nigeria and the leadership of The Redeemed Christian Church of God where Oba Ghandi Olaoye was ordained as a pastor to call the monarch to order and tell him to stop his overbearing incursion into the affairs of Muslims in Ogbomosoland which may ignite religious violence.”
NDMI insisted that Chief Imam has not breached the oath of office he took contrary to the allegations by Oba Ghandi in the query.
“The fact that the palace is accorded a privileged position to have a say in the appointment of an Imam does not in any way translate to the over-lordship stance by any Oba in the affairs of Islam and Muslims in his domain as in the case of Ogbomoso presently.”
Another Islamic group, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) also warned the Soun not to set Ogbomosho on fire.
A statement by the founder and Executive Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola reads, “The Soun of Ogbomoso wants the Chief Imam to take permission before going on pilgrimage to Makkah. This is akin to asking the Chief Imam to come to the palace every morning to take permission before going for salat (prayer) because Muslims go to Makkah to worship Allah and they also observe Salat for the same purpose.
“This is a clear infringement on Allah-given fundamental human rights of the Chief Imam and a violation of Section 38(i)&(ii) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which guarantees freedom of worship. It should be noted that Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam and it is enshrined in the divine scripture of Islam, the Glorious Qur’an (22:27).
“The most annoying part of the query is where the king commanded the Chief Imam ‘to immediately return to Ogbomoso’ from faraway Saudi Arabia. It is ludicrous, odorous and odoriferous.
“This implies very clearly that Oba Ghandi, a human being, commanded the Chief Imam to abandon the worship of Allah in order to come and pay homage to him in his palace. It is preposterous, sacrilegious and therefore unacceptable.
“It is very strange that the Chief Imam was made to sign an undertaking before his installation. We are deeply disturbed by this because we have no doubt that it came up as a result of lack of mutual understanding. The undertaking was signed as far back as 2021 before Ghandi became king. He is now leveraging on it. MURIC is interested in this particular document.”
League of Imams, Alfas berates Chief Imam over insubordination to Soun
Meanwhile, Islamic Leaders in Ogbomosho, under the auspices of Special Committee on Islamic Affairs in Ogbomosholand, in conjunction with the League of Imams and Alfas in Ogbomosoland, yesterday berated the embattled Chief Imam over insubordination to the Soun.
The leaders described Ayilara’s act as insubordination not only to Soun, but also to the stool of Soun of Ogbomoso, saying Muslim in the town will not allow anybody to tarnish the image of the monarch.
Addressing newsmen, the Balogun Musulumi of Ogbomosholand, Alhaji Bello Ayobami said Muslims in Ogbomoso would not allow extraneous forces to cause disunity in Ogbomosoland.
He maintained that religion has never caused crisis in Ogbomoso despite having Muslims, Christians, and even traditional worshippers living together in the town.
He noted that the Soun has the prerogative to choose any Muslim from any family of his choice as the Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land.
He said, “The steps taken by the Chief Imam have polarized and have caused deep division among Ogbomoso Muslims.
“The social media was awash with various derogatory, abusive, insults, defamation, and insubordination to the throne of Ogbomosoland. His Imperial Majesty, the Soun of Ogbomosoland, Oba Afolabi Ghandi Olaoye Orumogege ll is innocent of all of these defamation and insinuation against him.
“We are hereby calling on the whole world to discountenance all these false accusations against His Imperial Majesty, the Soun of Ogbomosoland. We shall not allow some extraneous forces to cause disaffection amongst us in Ogbomoso. In every family compound in Ogbomoso, there are Christians, Muslims and traditional worshippers and their bonded, and banded relationship has never caused any division amongst us.
“We intermarry, and celebrate every festival together as one united family. Any ruling house in Ogbomosland whose turn it is to produce a candidate for the throne can present any candidate of their choice, be it a Christian, Muslim, or traditional worshiper.
“Finally, we, the Muslim leaders who have a great stake in the affairs of the Muslim community, have taken the pains to explain how the Ogbomoso Central Mosque of Oja’gbo came into being and how it had been administered by the various Soun’s throne at any point in time.
“Our own peculiarity here in Ogbomoso is that the Ogbomoso Central Mosque is one an ancestral heritage of the Soun dynasty as the Kaaba – the Haram in Makka and the Masjid Anabawy in the Medina in the exclusive property of the Saudi Arabia Coyat Family.
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on Thursday hailed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for rejecting a petition to recall her as the lawmaker representing Kogi Central Senatorial District.
The lawmaker, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, said the electoral umpire should have thrown out the petition long before it did on April 3, 2025.
“I’m a lawyer. I’m a senator and I understand how Nigeria works. For me, the most important thing is this recall process has been stalled.
“I give kudos and credit to INEC even though I believe they should have thrown it away from the get-go.
“I think it was void ab initio because there is no law in the Electoral Act that says a petition should be discarded just because there is no address but again, what if the address is false?”
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain argued that most of the addresses provided in the petition for her recall were false because most houses in her district weren’t labelled.
Even though INEC did count 208,000 signatures, I bet you if they had gone into the verification stage, they would have struggled to even have 500 people come out to attest to signing that,” she added.
…hosts Delegation Of Rivers NASS Caucus
The Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral (Rtd) Ibok Ete Ekwe Ibas, has said that an appropriation bill for 2025 is being articulated to provide for critical development concerns in healthcare delivery, education, agriculture and infrastructure.
Vice Admiral (Rtd) Ibas also said that the anticipated budget will cater to creating more employment opportunities for Rivers people and advance delivery of technology in critical facets of public life.
The administrator gave the hint when he hosted the delegation of Rivers State caucus at the National Assembly, led by Dr Barinada Mpigi, the Senator representing Rivers South-East District, at Government House in Port Harcourt on Thursday.
Those on the delegation included Senator Allwell Onyesoh, the minority leader of the House of Representatives, Rep. Kingsley Chinda, Hon Dumnamene Dekor, Hon Solomon Bob, Hon Cyril Godwin Hart,
Hon Blessing Amadi, Hon. Felix Nwaeke, Hon Kelechi Nwogu, and Hon Victor Obuzor
Ibas said he has been resolute, since assumption of office, to restore law and order, and with support from the security agencies, an environment has been created where Rivers residents feel valued and safer.
The Administrator stated that the commitment is to make Rivers a model of peace in the comity of States, with a stable economy and citizens courageous to pursue their livelihood without fear or molestation.
“In addition to our peace building efforts, we are also focused on the economic stability and development of Rivers State.
“Since the Supreme Court verdict on the state’s budget, we have acted swiftly and decided to put together a new budget that reflects our commitment to healthcare, education, social services, and continued infrastructural development.
“We have worked diligently to ensure that the process is transparent, inclusive, and most importantly expedited. Our goal is to ensure that we do not lose any more time in making the necessary investments that will improve the lives of citizens.”
Vice Admiral (Rtd) Ibas stated: “The budget which is been finalized focuses on creating job opportunities and investing in key sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, and technology.
“We understand the urgency of this initiative, and we are committed to ensuring that they are implemented without delay.”
The Administrator noted that to get the task done, the support of the legislators will be required as key representatives of Rivers State in the National Assembly.
He sued for their assistance in securing the necessary resources and legislative backing that would bring the initiative of his administration to fruition.
“Your partnership is critical to success in ensuring that Rivers State remains on the path of progress and enduring peace for future generations.”
He explained that in the face of the challenges that beset Rivers, which led to the State of emergency declared by President Bola Tinubu, dialogue, community engagement and reconciliation were deplored to build trust among the citizenry.
He noted that the people of Rivers State have shown incredible resilience and patience in the efforts taken so far to restore the State back to the path of peace and respect for the law.
Vice Admiral (Rtd) Ibas assured that his administration remains committed to achieving enduring peace for the state.
He said: “Beyond security, we have prioritised community engagements as a central part of our strategy. Dialogue, reconciliation, and inclusivity have been key to building trust among our people.
“We are determined to strengthen the bond of unity in Rivers State and to foster an environment where every citizen feels valued, heard, and respected. Together, we are making strides in ensuring that peace becomes a permanent feature of our state.”
Responding, Senator Barinada Mpigi, representing Rivers South-East District, said they are dedicated representatives of Rivers people at the National Assembly and resolved to support all efforts that will bring development to the State.
While commending the administrator for the modest successes he had achieved so far, Senator Mpigi pledged the support and cooperation of the legislators to ensure the return of the state on the path of law and order.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has departed Abuja for Dakar, Senegal for official assignment.
The VP is expected to represent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the West African nation’s 65th Independence Anniversary celebrations.
Senegal marks its Independence Day on April 4 each year, commemorating its liberation from French colonial rule in 1960.
The annual celebration is a significant event featuring national parades, cultural displays, and ceremonies highlighting the country’s achievements and unity.
A statement issued on Thursday by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, said Shettima’s participation followed an official invitation from Senegalese President, Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
This underscored the strong diplomatic and economic ties between Nigeria and Senegal.
The two nations share longstanding relations, particularly within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), fostering cooperation on regional security, trade, and development initiatives.
The event is expected to reaffirm Senegal’s commitment to democratic governance and regional cooperation.
Vice President Shettima is scheduled to return to Nigeria immediately after the one-day celebrations, continuing his engagements in national development and diplomatic outreach.
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