Royal family to Gov. Bello: We reject your choice of Obaro of Kabba

One of the royal families in Kabba, Ilajo Royal Family, has rejected the nominee of Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, Chief Solomon Owoniyi, as the new Obaro of Kabba.
The position of the family was contained in a statement on Saturday.
The family, in the statement signed by Chief Mark Olowosayo of Ajinuhi Ruling House, Chief Stephen Ojo Bebeyi of Ajibohokun Ruling House and Chief Paul Toluhi of Mokelu Ruling House, said Bello’s pronouncement was not in consonance with the traditional council’s position.
They statement said: “The Ilajo Royal Descendants of Kabba, made up of the Mokelu, Ajinuhi and Ajibohokun ruling houses, hereby vehemently denounce, condemn and reject the choice of the said Chief Solomon Dele Owoniyi from the sub-urban village of Odolu, as the new Obaro.
“Odolu is a separate settlement outside Kabba with its own ruler, a Second Class chief, as the Obaro.
“We reject the choice of the said Owoniyi because it is not in consonance with the tradition and culture of Kabba/Oweland as it is an aberration in the Kabba/Oweland traditional setup and administration.
“We see it as an offensive embarrassment to the entire Okun traditional setup by making a commoner in Odolu the Head of Okun Traditional Council.”
The statement recalled that when the late Chief Daniel Aka was ‘wrongly’ appointed as the Obaro of Kabba by the Northern Nigerian Chieftaincy Law (1960), the Ilajo Royal Family challenged the appointment.
It added that the family persisted until the title was restored to the Ilajo Royal Family by the Justice Sule Aremu Olagunju Tribunal of Inquiry, which affirmed the findings of other previous tribunals on the issue and appointed Oba Michael Olobayo in 1985.
The statement added: “It must be clear therefore that this present appointment cannot pass without appropriate challenge. For even if we go by the Kogi State Edict No. 12 of 1995, which seeks to impose a new tradition/formula of rotation on the Stool of Obaro of Kabba, the said stool has only been taken away from Kabba and donated to Odolu as a bonus to that community leaving Kabba with nothing!”
The royal family therefore called on Bello “not to accept the temptation of playing politics with the sensitive traditional, cultural and spiritual sentiments and values of the people of Kabba and Oweland”.