Chieftaincy row brews in Ondo as ruling house challenges Olu-Oke selection

By Boye Oyeyemi –

A fresh crisis has hit Oke-Igbo Kingdom in Ondo State following a petition by the Kuole-Oloje Ruling House to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa over the appointment of the Olu-Oke of Oke-Igbo.

In the petition, submitted through its legal representatives, the ruling house asked the governor to exercise his executive powers to review the appointment, insisting that its candidate, Prince Adewole Akinpelu Abegunde, was the rightful nominee to the stool.

The petition faulted the selection of Barrister Akintoye Felix Adeoye of the Are Kugbaigbe Ruling House, whose appointment was approved by the state government and formalised with the presentation of a staff of office on November 4, 2025.

Members of the Kuole-Oloje Ruling House argued that the appointment violated an existing Chieftaincy Declaration which, they said, provides for rotational succession among five recognised ruling houses in Oke-Igbo.

They also claimed that a related appeal was pending at the Court of Appeal at the time the appointment was approved, describing the action of the state government as premature and capable of worsening tension in the community.

According to the petitioners, the Are Kugbaigbe Ruling House had already produced a monarch in the current rotation, making it the turn of the Kuole-Oloje Ruling House to present the next Olu-Oke.

The group warned that unless the appointment is reviewed and the process aligned with existing chieftaincy laws, it would approach the court for redress, adding that the development has already unsettled traditional institutions in the kingdom.