The Salu of Edunabon, His Royal Majesty Oba Kehinde Oladepo Adesoji Akinrinsa II, has said his position is not affected by the recent transfer of a kingship dispute from the Court of Appeal sitting in Akure to the Osun High Court.
HRM Adesoji told reporters by phone on Thursday that the process that produced his appointment was constitutional and properly supervised by the local government.
He said there are three recognised kingmakers in Edunabon — the Olosi, the Monigbere and the Olukotun — and explained the sequence of vacancies and deaths that, in his view, led the town to rely on warrant chiefs appointed by the local council when the full complement of kingmakers was not available.
According to the monarch, the timeline is as follows: the Olosi was appointed on 30 September 2015; the Monigbere died in 2006 and was not replaced; the previous Salu, Oba Elijah Omoloye, died on 4 August 2017; and Emmanuel Olaniyan Olukotun died on 30 November 2017 — three months after the late Oba Omoloye. He presented those dates as his account of events.
Adesoji emphasised that, in his view, the law permits the local government to deploy warrant chiefs where the customary kingmakers are not available, and he dismissed claims that the Olosi had the authority to appoint other kingmakers. “Under the constitution a chief has no power to appoint another chief,” he said.
He added that if any party is dissatisfied with his selection, the law requires they notify the state government within 21 days; failure to take that step, he argued, amounts to acceptance of the selection.
The monarch noted that he was formally approved as Salu 17 days after his selection, after which some parties challenged the appointment in court.
“Seventeen days after, I was approved as the Salu of Edunabon, in which they later went to court, and now to the Court of Appeal that has ruled that the case should be transferred to the Osun High Court, where Chief Judge Adepele Ojo is expected to assign it to another High Court judge,” Salu stated.
He told journalists that the Court of Appeal in Akure has, he believes, recognised the stool as constitutional and ordered the matter transferred to the Osun High Court for further hearing, with instructions that the Chief Judge of Osun — he named Chief Judge Adepele Ojo — should assign the case to a High Court judge. (The statements about the court’s actions are those of HRM Adesoji and have been attributed to him.)
Adesoji thanked residents of Edunabon for standing by him, urged calm and business-as-usual in the town, and encouraged traders and citizens to continue their commercial activities without fear. “There is no cause for alarm,” he said.
The kingship of Edunabon has been the subject of long-running disputes and court actions in recent years, including reports in national and regional media about competing oba-elects, unrest and legal challenges.