Victor EzejaRECENTLY appointed Alawo of Awo, Prince Taiwo Abdulrasaq Adegboye and four officials of Egbedore Local Government Area of Osun State are to face prosecution over alleged forgery of official selection document relating to the royal throne.
Also, Prince Hamzat Abidoye Gboyelade, Secretary of Abioye Ruling House, is among the accused.
The Alawo Throne has witnessed succession crisis since the death of Oba Musa Olatunbosun Adebayo of Awo in Osun State.
The Prince (now Oba) Taiwo Abdulrasaq Adegboye was said to have forged royal selection document which was used as basis of crowning him the Oba of Awo by Adegboyega Oyetola, the State Governor.
A human rights organization, Known as Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ) issued a statement saying it had reported the alleged forgery scandal through a petition to Police on behalf of Prince Abubakar Adeniyi who the group claimed was supposed to be the Crown Prince.
In the statement which was signed by the group’s Assistant General Secretary, Pastor Michael Agaasi, CHRSJ said it called for thorough and unbiased investigation into the alleged scandal, revealing that men of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Zone XI, Osogbo, have begun investigation into the matter.
According to CHRSJ, the four Local Government officials indicted in the saga were: Council Manager, Egbedore Local Government, Awo, Mrs. Abiola Felicia Olabimtan; Head of Administrative Officer, Mrs M.A. Akinade; Senior Administrative Officer-1(SAO-1), Mrs. Aina Adelu; and Administrative Officer II, Mr. Adiyeloja.
Adegboye camp claimed to have had a meeting on August 24th, 2020, where he was selected as the Oba and tendered Minute of the purported meeting. The group, however, said Adegboye was unable to show evidence to prove that sons and daughters of the area were part of the meeting.
CHRSJ alleged that the said meeting did not hold and there was no selection of any crown Prince for the throne.
The group claimed that the said document that was allegedly forged, misled Governor Oyetola in crowning Adegboye the Oba (King) which held between 13th and 14th of September, 2021.
It described the action as illegal, unconstitutional and untraditional, adding that such an action should not be allowed to stand in a sane society.
Following police investigation into the matter, a case has been instituted at the State High Court, Ede.
Part of the petition letter reproduced in the statement reads, “Taiwo Abdulrasaq Adegboye and his cohorts began their forgery methodology from the so called purported/kangaroo Minute of Selection Meeting of Abioye Ruling House, Awo, dated 24th August, 2020, where some Egbedore Local Government officials claimed to have been observers without showing any evidence of ‘Video Clip’ of where the sons and daughters of Abioye Ruling House, Awo, met to select Taiwo Abdulrasaq Adegboye as their candidate for Alawo stool.
“But investigation revealed that Abioye Ruling House under the Headship of Alhaji (Prince) Abdulkareem Adegboye did not call any meeting anywhere whatsoever on the acclaimed date of 24th August, 2020, in respect of filling the vacant stool of Alawo and not to talk of selecting any Crown Prince out of their two Crown Princes, Prince Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman and Taiwo Abdulrasaq Adegboye that obtained Expression of Interest Form from Egbedore Local Government, Awo.
“It has been cleared that Taiwo Abdulrasaq Adegboye and his co-travelers cooked the so-called Abioye Ruling House, Awo, Minute of purported/kangaroo Selection Meeting of 24th August, 2020, with the show of evidence of different thumbprinting impressions and signatures of the Head of Abioye Ruling House, Awo and Secretary, Alhaji (Prince) Abdulkareem Adegboye and Alhaji (Prince) Abidoye Hamzat Gboyelade or Prince (Hamzat) Abidoye or Hamsat Abidoye respectively, in Taiwo’s Expression of Interest Form with ( N0:000000114).”
The letter further stated that, “Taiwo Abdulrasaq Adegboye went ahead again to forge the thumb-printing impression and signature of Head of Abioye Ruling House, Alhaji (Prince) Abdulkareem Adegboye and that of the Secretary, Prince (Alhaji) Hamzat Abidoye or Alhaji (Prince) Abidoye Hamzat Gboyelade or Hamsat Abidoye respectively, in the purported Minute of Selection Meeting of Abioye Ruling House, Awo and used it as exhibit (B03) in a case with suit N0: (HED/26/2020), before the High Court of Justice sitting in Ede.
“It was discovered that Taiwo Abdulrasaq Adegboye’s Notice of Appeal as it contained in his Bond to Prosecute Appeal N0: CA/AK/58m/2021 on suit N0:HOS/84/2021 and Taiwo’s Expression of Interest Form with N0: 000000114-page exhibit (5b) were of the same signature of Hamsat Abidoye as Surety and that of Alhaji (Prince) Abidoye Hamzat Gboyelade with different thumb-printing impressions of Head of Abioye Ruling House, Awo, Alhaji (Prince) Abdulkareem Adegboye.
“Even in their purported/kangaroo Minute of Selection Meeting, the Local Government officials who claimed to be observers, could not identify the year of Alawo of Awo Chieftaincy Declaration to be used for Taiwo Abdulrasaq Adegboye’s purported/kangaroo selection as candidate of Abioye Ruling House, Awo, for Alawo’s stool.”
The group advised the Oba Taiwo Abdulrasaq Adegboye, to resign honourably from the illegal throne of Alawo he occupied presently before he would be disgraced out of the place
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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