The Interim Executive Council of the Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide, yesterday, said it rejected the selection and nomination of Wale Adeniran as the Head of Ilana Omo Oodua in place of Prof. Banji Akintoye.

The group, in a statement jointly signed by its Chairman, Tanimowo Okusaga and Secretary, Kunle Adelakun Eruobodo, said that the new interim executive of the Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide would not allow those with ulterior motives to undermine the agenda of the self-determination movement.

According to the statement, in line with its mandate, the executive would review the constitution of the organisation, correct some anomalies and elect officers as demanded by Congress.

The statement reads in part: “The shady election was nullified by the Congress at the Secretariat of the Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide on the ground that it was unjust, unconstitutional, undemocratic, not transparent, free, fair, credible and therefore voided.

“The executive, maintaining that Ilana Omo Oodua being the foremost Yoruba self-determination group must lead by a good example, declared that any attempt to force Wale Adeniran, who was fraudulently foisted on the group but who personally resigned and announced his decision to the public recently on account of his unabating spurious character, shall be resisted as the organisation is bigger than any individual.”

“Furthermore, we are aware that the life of Prof. Banji Akintoye had been threatened several times by Mr. Wale Adeniran and Mr. Maxwell Adeleye with both of them pressurising Akintoye to vacate the scene to pave the way for the installation of Adeniran as the Alana or the supreme leader while Baba Akintoye would be reduced to a mere patron and stooge. This is a failed coup d’etat. Meanwhile, all the empirical evidence shall be produced at the appropriate time.

“The hidden agenda being orchestrated by Adeniran, Maxwell and their cohorts had been unearthed by members of the Ilana Omo Oodua.

“We have resisted their secret agenda and imposition plans both privately and publicly. We are fighting the battle and we are not ready to give up the fight. Adeniran and his co-traveller, Adeleye, are obviously bent on tarnishing or destroying the collective interest of the Yoruba people.

“It is extremely sad, absurd and uncouth to have seen a few elements who are hell-bent to sabotage a long-time dream of the sons and daughters of Yoruba for their personal greed and selfishness. If not resisted, this could mortgage our future and that of our coming generation as a people with a common destiny.

“Nonetheless, the Executive Council and the general assembly of Ilana Omo Oodua will never allow this rot to destroy the hope of the Yoruba Nation.

“We want to state unequivocally that the Congress resolutions supercede the individual powers of the Alana to impose illegalities on the assembly of Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide. Baba Adebanji Akintoye is reputed for failing to uphold the sanity and the sanctity of the Constitution of the Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide and is perceived to indulge in a divide-and-rule system which promotes acrimony and disdain.

“Issuance of certificates, signed by non-members of Ilana Omo Oodua to unelected persons who are products of illegal and criminal electoral exercise as executives of Ilana Omo Oodua, is both curious and unacceptable.

“Baba Adebanji Akintoye’s inconsistencies and style of pledging loyalties to the agenda of certain elements rather than the collective will of the general assembly of Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide paints the Alana as an enemy of the general assembly of the foremost Yoruba self-determination group.

“Conclusively, it is on record that the Congress on the 1st of November, declared opened by Prof. Akintoye, was not done in a secret sitting room in Cotonun but at the Secretariat of the Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide, in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. We reiterate the fact that the certificates of the return being purportedly given out to Adeniran and his ‘social media exco’ at a secluded place are nothing but a fraud comparable to the fallacy and the fraudulently concocted Nigerian 1999 constitution.

“It is well known that Mr Adeniran did not contest for the position of chairman during the congress, therefore, it is unbelievable and against the democratic norm to have seen Prof. Akintoye begging the elected Exco members, produced by the Congress held in Ibadan on November 1, to accept Mr. Adeniran as the chairman of Ilana Omo Oodua. Though we understand the pressure being mounted on Baba Akintoye to vacate his position for Adeniran, notwithstanding, we are resolute in our collective decision to rescue the Yoruba from the detractors and the anti-progressive forces congregating in Cotonoun, Republic of Benin.” (The Guardian: Text, excluding headline)

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