The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has directed his media office not to issue any formal response to the 48-hour ultimatum issued by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade, over the conferment of the Okanlomo of Yorubaland title on businessman Dotun Sanusi.

In a post on Facebook on Tuesday, the Ooni’s Director of Media and Public Affairs, Moses Olafare, explained that his principal considered the Alaafin’s warning unworthy of an official reply and had chosen to allow the matter to be judged in the public space rather than through press statements.

He stressed that attention should be directed towards issues capable of uniting the Yoruba people rather than those that might foster division.

He wrote, “My Principal has directed me against issuing a Press Release on the Empty Threat of the Alawada Babasala.

“I beg to disappoint you gentlemen of the press.

”We can not dignify the undignifyable with an official response. We leave the matter to be handled in the public court of opinion as it is already being treated.

Let’s rather focus on narratives that unite us rather than the ones capable of dividing us.

“No Press Release pls??48 Hours My Foot!!!”

The development follows a statement from the Alaafin of Oyo demanding that the Ooni revoke the chieftaincy title within 48 hours.

The Alaafin had argued that the authority to confer titles covering the entire Yorubaland lies exclusively with him, citing a Supreme Court ruling to that effect.

He maintained that the Ooni’s action amounted to a breach of traditional boundaries, insisting that the monarch’s powers were limited to Ife Central, Ife North and Ife South Local Government Areas, as stipulated in his instrument of office.

The Alaafin had further described the conferment of the title on Sanusi as unlawful and an affront to his stool, warning that failure to comply with his directive would attract consequences. (TRIBUNE)