Oluwo strips defunct NPN chieftain, Ogundokun, of chieftaincy titles

The Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdul-Rasheed Akanbi, has stripped the Publicity Secretary of the defunct National
Party of Nigeria, Chief Abiola Ogundokun, of all the chieftaincy titles conferred on him by the Iwo Traditional Council.

The monarch, who said this in a telephone interview with our correspondent in Osogbo, on Sunday, said he announced the withdrawal of Ogundokun’s titles while addressing traditional chiefs at his palace.

The Iwo monarch accused Ogundokun of disrespecting him as well as making utterances and actions he described as anti-Iwo.
The withdrawal of the titles was further confirmed in a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the monarch, Mr Adetunji Alli.

“As the ruler and custodian of all traditional, cultural, religious and social clubs in Iwoland, I hereby relieve him of all his traditional and social titles, ranging from Basorun Musulumi of Iwoland, member of Iwo Board of Trustees, Otun Balogun of Iwoland and other titles that may be accorded to him from Iwo.

“A chief is appointed to favour the town. Any chief, either traditional or religious, who engages in a bad conduct should be dealt with accordingly. Ogundokun is one of them. I removed him after due consultation with chiefs, religious leaders, stakeholders and opinion leaders in the interest of Iwo,” the royal father said.

“He went as far as going to a radio station to molest Iwo, the crown and her subjects. It is high time we shoved him off. He is a liability to our land. The Oluwo of Iwoland admitted him to redeem him but later discovered he is an unrepentant and irredeemable being. He has no respect for Iwo and needs to be treated like a traitor.”

When contacted, Ogundokun said the Oluwo was not competent to strip him of any of the titles. He challenged the monarch to write him a letter to that effect if he was competent to carry out such an action.

He said, “He is not competent to strip me. Tell him to write me a letter to that effect if he is competent to do that. He is doing that because I advised him to stop collecting money from people he does not intend to confer chieftaincy titles on.

“Why did he not go to the court to defend himself of the criminal charges preferred against him by the Oluwo Oke? He should go to the court and prove that he is not a fraudster and tell the court why he demolished the shopping complex of the Oluwo Oke.

“I have been maintaining him and using my money to keep him. A few months ago, he told the whole world that Ogundokun is the best Iwo man. He said if he had two Ogundokuns in Iwo, he did not need anybody again. He is doing this because I advised him against criminality.”