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The general assembly of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII) has passed a vote of no confidence on the President-General, Prince Yemisi Adeaga, its Board of Trustee (BoT) and the electoral committee saddled with the responsibility of conducting election for the socio-cultural body.
The vote of no confidence was passed at an extraordinary meeting of CCII club presidents, secretaries and other stakeholders, held at Ibadan House, Oke Aremo, Ibadan, on Friday.
The stakeholders, in a statement signed by all the CCII club presidents and secretaries, at the end of the meeting, agreed that the administrative and financial atrocities established against Adeaga, as well as other glaring electoral fraud perpetrated by BoT and some members of electoral committee have become matters of great concern to the majority members of the CCII.
They said despite all allegations levelled against Adeaga, nothing has been done to checkmate his excesses.
“We are not saying Adeaga should not seek re-election, but he shouldn’t stage-manage the disqualification of other contestants. Our meeting here today is for the progress of Ibadan; we are not against anybody, but we are not happy and we don’t trust the BoT and the electoral committee. The forthcoming election remains sacrosant. Barrister Niyi Ajewole is not stepping down for anybody,” the statement read.
The statement commended the three electoral committee members who had earlier condemned the “illegal disqualification of Ajewole,” as well as CCII past President Generals for standing by the truth.
It noted that the extension of the election date beyond April 14 was advised by Prince Adeaga, saying that there was no cogent reason for the extension.
The general assembly described Barrister Niyi Ajewole’s disqualification as Illegal.
“There is no Ibadan Week celebration or any other event without the election as scheduled.The election must hold on 14th April, 2023 at Ibadan House.
“The stakeholders meeting will be continuous whenever and as the need arises,” the stakeholders said.
They also claimed that the Olubadan of Ibadan land, Oba Lekan Balogun, Ali Okunmade II, personally called towards the end of the meeting and commended “our resilience and invited all for a meeting on Monday.”
“Adeaga brought over 50 policemen, in about six vehicles, with 10 DSS officials and almost 60 militants to stop the meeting, all to no avail as the meeting held successfully,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, Olubadan of Ibadan land, Oba Lekan Balogun, has intervened in the ongoing crisis bedeviling the CCII.
The monarch said his intervention became necessary so as to forestall breakdown of law and order in the Ibadan land.
While addressing the general assembly, the Olubadan, represented by the President, Association of Ibadan Mogajis, Mogaji Asimiyu Ariori, urged the camp of Ajewole to tread softly for peace to continue to reign in Ibadan land.
Ariori said Olubadan as the father of all has called for a meeting where all issues concerning Ajewole’s disqualification would be addressed.
“We are known as pace setters, we should be a role model for others.Olubadan said you should be patient; he sent me here to douse the tension. All your grievances will be addressed at the meeting slated for Monday,” he said.
Also, a petition signed by Kola Fatoye, the counsel to Oluyole Social Elite Club, which was addressed to the chairman of the electoral committe, noted that the BoT does not have the power to instruct the the committee to disqualify Ajewole, saying it breached the section 3.3 (iii) and 8.2(iii) of the CCII Constitution.
“It would appear from the content of your letter under reference that the BoT of CCII is asking your committee to annul the screening exercise that has been conducted in line with the clear provision of the constitution, thereby rubbishing your committee’s work, which was gladly accepted by your committee to do.
“We, therefore, have our client’s instruction to request that the purported disqualification as instructed by the BoT be rescinded and same communicated to our client within seven days of service of this letter on your committee.
“Please, be advised that unless the above request is complied with within seven days of service of this letter on you, including the day of such service, we may have no other option but to proceed to the appropriate court to determine the legality or otherwise of the instruction handed over to your committee and this we shall do without further notice to you from our office,” the petition read.