Some traditional rulers in the South West have decried the government’s non-payment of their monthly salaries.

They lamented that the situation had made it difficult for them to run their palaces, discharge their traditional responsibilities and meet their daily needs.

The village heads among them, who are low-ranking community chiefs, aka baales, said they received between N10,000 and N15,000 monthly.

This comes after the Oloyan of Oyan, Osun State, Oba Kelani Adekeye, lamented the non-payment of salaries to traditional rulers and chiefs for seven months.

“The kings and chiefs are starving,” he said in a viral video seen by Saturday PUNCH.

Findings by Saturday PUNCH revealed that Oba Adekeye was not alone in his complaint about the financial situation of traditional rulers.

Another prominent king in the state, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confided in one of our correspondents that many traditional rulers were struggling to feed themselves and were soliciting financial assistance.

“The monarch you are talking about is not the only one complaining. Some of them, even those who are older than me, have approached me to seek support, although I am also not being paid as a king.

“Kings are lamenting, and we know why. We have no money. We just hope that President Bola Tinubu will see to the release of the local government allocations being withheld by the Federal Government,” he said.

I’ve not received salary in over three years – Village head

A village head in Ede North Local Government Area of Osun State also lamented that he had not received any salary or payment from the government since assuming the position more than three years ago.

The baale said he had been surviving on his existing means of livelihood, adding that several other traditional titleholders in the local government were facing a similar situation.

He said no fewer than 31 village heads in Ede North had not received any payment from the government despite occupying their positions.

The chief also alleged that they were being denied other entitlements due to them, describing their situation as difficult.

“I have not received any salary since I assumed the throne over three years ago. I have only been surviving because I already had what I was doing before I became a baale.

“About 31 of us in Ede North Local Government are not receiving anything from the government. We are also not getting all our entitlements.”

Meanwhile, a king in one of the towns in the Ogbomoso area of Oyo State told Saturday PUNCH that lesser monarchs and village heads were always left with crumbs from the money allocated to traditional rulers by the government.

According to the monarch, who spoke on condition of anonymity, first-class kings took the lion’s share of the five per cent allocation and distributed whatever was left to second- and third-class kings and village heads.

“What some of us receive every month is nothing to write home about. I have people, village heads, receiving between N10,000 and N15,000 every month. What are they going to do with such a terrible amount?

“The allocation to traditional rulers sits with the first-class kings, who then distribute it to lesser kings and village heads. Before it gets down, the money would have been reduced to crumbs. What we receive cannot sustain us,” he said.

Ogun baales decry hardship

Some baales in Ogun State, who spoke with Saturday PUNCH on Thursday, also lamented the lack of government support, maintaining that they had been spending their limited resources to run their respective domains.

They accused the government of using them to mobilise their people during elections, only to abandon them afterwards.

Speaking with our correspondent on condition of anonymity, a village head from Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state said that rather than supporting them, the government preferred to extort money from them.

He said, “We are getting nothing from the government. We are about 700 baales in Ewekoro Local Government, and about 20 of us are receiving a monthly stipend of N10,000, but even this is not paid regularly. Some time ago, we were asked to pay N80,000 to collect a digital certificate. What that means, I really don’t know. Yet, when elections come, we are the ones they call upon to mobilise people for them.”

Another baale from Ogun Waterside, who also spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation, said community leaders were receiving little or no support from the government.

“There are over 70 baales in Ogun Waterside Local Government, but I don’t know of any baale who is receiving a monthly stipend. Even when we go for meetings, we spend our money.

“The baales are hungry, not to talk of the residents. So, the government must address this situation because once you become a baale, you may not even have time to attend to your business because of meetings here and there.

So, the government must recognise that baales play crucial roles in maintaining law and order at the grassroots and should, therefore, be supported to discharge these responsibilities with ease,” he added.

Another village head from Remo North corroborated the accounts of his colleagues from other council areas, saying baales were running their domains without support.

He said, “There was a time we were receiving N15,000 from the government through the Akarigbo, but we have not received anything since March. What can N15,000 do? It is not even sufficient to buy recharge cards, yet we run our domains daily with our own money.

“Elections are here, and they have started coming, but once the elections are over, the baale becomes nothing. It is that bad, and there is hardship in the land. Many times, it is when we also have nothing that we are expected to support residents in need.”

Also, the Baale of Okerimioro in Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, Chief Olusola Gbadeyan, lamented that he had not received any salary since ascending the throne in December 2025, despite performing traditional duties, including settling disagreements among his subjects.

Gbadeyan, who spoke with our correspondent on Thursday, said he had been relying on financial assistance from his people residing in Lagos to meet his needs.

A video of Gbadeyan lamenting that some village heads were receiving N3,000 monthly stipends had gone viral during the week and generated reactions from the public.

In the video, he said, “I came from Lagos to be made a chief, and I observed that our elders who have been installed for 15–20 years are suffering. Does a chief deserve to be paid N3,000 as a stipend? It is demeaning to be collecting a N3,000 monthly stipend. What do you want the chiefs collecting a N3,000 monthly stipend to do with that?

“I was called from Lagos to become chief. I brought my mother, wives and children down to Oro, and up till now, I have not been paid anything from either the local government or the community.”

Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, the village head maintained that his colleagues were not being taken care of.

“All that I said in the video is correct, and it was not to tarnish anybody’s image but to call on the appropriate authorities to make amendments,” he said.

Osun blames withheld LG funds, Ogun, Oyo refute allegations

The spokesperson for the Osun State governor, Olawale Rasheed, attributed the non-payment of salaries and entitlements to traditional rulers in the state to the withholding of local government allocations by the Federal Government.

Rasheed said traditional rulers were constitutionally entitled to five per cent of monthly allocations to local governments, adding that the funds were meant to be shared among them according to their respective hierarchies.

He explained that the allocation was not the responsibility of the state government, stressing that traditional rulers, including baales, were expected to benefit from the statutory provision.

The governor’s spokesperson said, “Constitutionally, traditional rulers have five per cent from the local government across the 36 states. Each of these local governments has traditional rulers in different classes, and they also have Baales under them.

“Hence, they will rationalise the five per cent allocation among themselves and share it based on their levels until it gets to the Baales.

“Therefore, the funds are not coming from the state government, and there is no way any traditional ruler can get remunerated when the five per cent allocation is not available.”

The Special Adviser to Governor Dapo Abiodun on Information and Strategy, Mr Kayode Akinmade, said matters affecting traditional rulers, particularly their remuneration, is within the purview of their respective local government.

Akinmade said, “The baales are the appointees of their respective kabiyesi, who is in charge of that jurisdiction. And it is the responsibility of the local government to give them whatever is due to them.

“So, if they are having any challenge in that area, they should direct their complaints to the local government because the state government will not be expected to usurp the roles of the local governments”.

Efforts to speak with the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in the state, Ganiyu Hamzat, proved abortive.

When contacted, the Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Dotun Oyelade, dismissed the claims as untrue.

He said, “That is far from the truth.”

He did not share further details. (Saturday PUNCH)