Shockwaves are reverberating across Yorùbáland and the global Yorùbá diaspora following the sudden death of the Baba Ọba (King’s Father) of the famed Oyotunji African Village in South Carolina, USA. The late Baba Ọba, Lukman Arohunfale, a revered socialite and traditionalist, passed away under circumstances already sparking fierce controversy. His death comes just days after he publicly accused the newly installed Alaafin of Oyo, His Imperial Majesty Oba Akeem Adéyẹmọ Owoade, of allegedly ordering his courtiers to beat him mercilessly during a recent courtesy visit to the Oyo palace in Nigeria. In a widely circulated voice recording, the deceased recounted how what was meant to be a simple homage turned violent. Although the Baba Ọba had reportedly battled ill health in the past year, growing insinuations suggest that the alleged physical assault may have aggravated his condition, ultimately leading to his untimely death. The palace in Oyo recently denied that s...
Fresh crisis is brewing in the All Progressives Congress , (APC ) in Ondo State following an alleged face off between the chairman of the party in the state, Honorable Isaac Kekemeke and the Minister of state for Niger Delta affairs, Professor Cladius Daramola.
The duo reportedly engaged in a confrontation at Senator Tayo Alasoadura’s residence in Akure, the State capital during the minister’s condolence visit to the senator, who recently lost his wife to the cold hands of death.
Trouble had started when Kekemeke, on sighting the Minister, who had just granted interview to journalists, started shouting “Baba”.
It was gathered that the chairman approached the Minister and started argument about who is the leader of the party in the state.
Kekemeke reportedly told the Minister that irrespective of his position at the Federal level, he must give due respect to him as the chairman of the party, describing himself as the number one party man in the state.
DAILY POST gathered that the argument became messy when the special assistant to the Minister, Hon. Nat Adojutelegan intervened and asked that the chairman should let go of the wrist of the Minister.
It took the intervention of some party members present to stop “boys” from the secretariat from beating up the Minister and his special assistant.
While explaining the issue on one of the social media platforms of the party, APC Youth league platform, Hon. Adojutelegan alleged that the chairman was very rude to the Minister.
He said “the honourable minister of state, Prof. Claudius Omoleye Daramola came from Abuja yesterday morning to pay a condolence visit to Senator Tayo Alasoadura.
“After commiserating with Senator Alasoadura, the honourable minister stopped outside the building to grant a short interview to correspondents from Adaba Radio and The Nation Newspaper.
“Mr. D.I.Kekemeke, the Chairman, and some thugs charged into the compound as the honourable minister was concluding the interview.
“He saw me and I greeted him warmly. He then saw the minister and greeted him by shouting “Baba! Baba!!” loudly. Mr. Kekemeke was quite rude and condescending in the manner he called “Baba! Baba” repeatedly
“The minister tried to play down the embarrassment but Mr. Kekemeke responded by holding the minister’s wrist, apparently playing to the gallery, and saying “I am the number one person in the state!”, “I am your leader”.
“He made these statements repeatedly to the minster. The minister disregarded the insults and jokingly told the Chairman that he would be fined.
“It is noteworthy that the Chairman continued to hold the minister’s wrist throughout this period.
“While holding the minister’s wrist, he responded to the joke by rudely saying repeatedly aloud “mewa ministers o to be!”
“At this stage, I stepped in as the insults were getting out of hand and told the Chairman that he was rude to the honourable minister.
“The Chairman responded to me by saying “you’re a great Party man, you should know that “I am number one.” That statement led to an argument between us
“The Chairman attempted to push me in the chest, and his thugs reacted by attempting to assault me physically. I wondered whether the Chairman has trained his thugs on when to react or whether they spoke in signs.
“The situation was calm until the Chairman made the disgraceful movement to hit me, which brought about the reaction of his thugs.
“I have never hit another person in my life, but I have always been capable of defending myself. I reasonably believe that those who know me and Mr. Kekemeke very well will know the one whose version of events represents the whole truth”, Hon Adojutelegan explained.
One of the party faithful, who does not want his name mentioned said “since the Minister has not been contending any position with the state chairman of the party in any form, one would have expected the chairman to give honour to the Minister who is representing the presidency.
“This put to question the chairman’s capability to provide the needed leadership and steer the ship of the party to victory in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.”
Meanwhile, calls made to Kekemeke to get his reactions proved abortive as he was not picking calls as at the time of filing this report.
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