Aramoko Ekiti asks Ooni to help end six-month wait for new Alara
- Kingmakers in Aramoko Ekiti want the Ooni of Ife to urge Governor Oyebanji to let them finish choosing a new monarch.
- The Alara stool has been vacant since Oba Adegoke Adeyemi died in August 2025 at 82.
- A first vote by the 12 kingmakers ended 6-6 and the state paused the second round.
The people of Aramoko Ekiti have turned to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, for help in ending a six-month stalemate over who becomes their next traditional ruler.
In a statement on Monday, the town's kingmakers asked the Ooni to appeal to Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State to let them restart and finish the selection of a new Alara of Aramoko.
Aramoko Ekiti is the headquarters of Ekiti West Local Government Area. The throne has been empty since Oba Adegoke Adeyemi died in August 2025 at the age of 82.
Why the process stopped
According to the statement, signed by the head of the kingmakers, High Chief Julius Adebayo, and their secretary, High Chief Kolade Oyebade, the search began in April 2026 under the Alara of Aramoko Chieftaincy Declaration and the Ekiti State Chieftaincy Law.
Three princes were shortlisted after an Ifa consultation by Baba Araba Elebuibon, the statement said. When the 12 kingmakers voted, the result was a six-six tie, and a second round was meant to follow.
That second vote has not held. The kingmakers said the Commissioner for Chieftaincy Affairs postponed it, and that letters they wrote to the government since then have gone without a reply.
For ordinary residents, the delay is not just about palace politics. The kingmakers said the town's festivals and customary rites cannot be performed without a substantive monarch, and that young people in the community are growing restless.
They also stressed the old link between Aramoko and Ile-Ife, describing the Alara stool as part of the wider Yoruba tradition the Ooni oversees.
"The stool of Alara remains vacant. Our youths are restive. Our traditional festivals and rites cannot hold," the statement said.
The kingmakers said they were running to the Ooni "as our father and the custodian of Yoruba culture", and asked him to use his office to press for the kingmakers to reconvene immediately.
What happens next
Everything now rests on two men: the Ooni, if he chooses to raise the matter with the governor, and Governor Oyebanji, who must approve the kingmakers sitting again.
The kingmakers said they believe the impasse can be settled peacefully and that the governor respects the law and tradition.
