Ataoja Is Father To All - Asiwaju Of Osogbo

Ataoja of Osogbo, the Oba Jimoh Oyetunji has been described as apolitical and father to all political parties and politicians in his domain and Osun State.

This is as the allegations made against the monarch by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun has also been described as embarrassing.

The Asiwaju of Osogboland, Chief Ajadi Adekilekun Badmus, stated this on Sunday in reaction to a statement that the traditional ruler allegedly threatened non-indigenes residing in the town on which party to vote for in the forthcoming elections.

Badmus also stated that the whole traditional system in Osogbo has been in shock since the statement by the APC became public.

The Osun APC in a statement signed by its Acting Chairman, Tajudeen Lawal on Saturday had accused the monarch of interfering in politics by directing non-indigenes to vote candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming general elections.

The Ataoja had reportedly held a meeting recently with representatives of non-indigenous communities in Osogbo, where matters of security and welfare was discussed according to Wasiu Bello, the Secretary to the Osogbo monarch.

"Oba Larooye and the whole Ataoja in council expressed shock and indignation at the twisting of the agenda of the meeting that was had with representatives of non-indigenous communities in Osogboland.

“The Ataoja, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji Olanipekun, convened the meeting to appeal to non-native residents of his domain to allow peaceful and rancourless elections before, during, and after the general elections.

"The Ataoja neither threatened nor warned the guests on how to exercise their lawful and legitimate franchise during the coming elections but only preached messages of a peaceful atmosphere in his domain.

"And I want to believe that this action is one of the cardinal function of the Ataoja and it is necessary because of the daily scary news and reports of incidents that the public receive almost on daily basis.

"Based on the above I wish to make it clear and assure all and sundary that the Ataoja did not and could not have issued threats or asked his guests to vote against their conscience nor vote for or against any political party.

"The Ataoja is the father to not only all indigenes and non-indigenes of Osogbo, including the Igbos who recently contributed to the ongoing renovation of the Palace of the Ataoja, but also the father to all political parties and their members.”