The Kingmakers of Mopa Traditional Council in Mopamuro, Kogi, have affirmed that the selection process of the new Elulu of Mopa Land, HRM Oba Muyiwa Ibeun, was credible, fair and transparent.
The Kingmakers made the affirmation at a news conference on Thursday at the Elulu’s Place in Mopa, Mopamuro Local Government Areas of Kogi State.
Oba Muyiwa Ibeun was coronated as Elulu of Mopa on May 18, after receiving his appointment letter from Kogi Government, following his confirmation by Mopa Kingmakers and ratificatied by Okun Traditional Council.
The immediate past Elulu of Mopa, Oba Julius Joledo, joined his ancestors on November 22, 2023.
The kingmakers were reacting to a claim by an aggrieved aspirant, who alleged that the selection of the new Elulu Mopa, was marred with manipulations to favour Oba Muyiwa Ibeun.
The Kingmakers include: Chief Shola Mofobi, the Obaje of Mopaland; Apostle Rotimi Akinbola from Ijagbe-Mopa; Chief Ayodele Oluwole; Comdr Temitope Olorunshola, among others, from the nine communities of Mopaland.
In their various comments, the Kingmakers said that the selection process of the new Elulu of Mopa, was free, fair, transparent and credible.
Balogun of Mopa Traditional Council; Oba Clarence Olafemi, said the kingmakers did a perfect job from the beginning of the selection process till the end.
Olafemi explained that a Committee of Kingmakers with a representative from each of the nine communities that made up Mopaland, was set up to select new Elulu.
He noted that the activities at all the committee meetings were duly documented, during which the seven applicants vying for the Elulu stools were evaluated.
“At the end of the evaluation attended by all aspirants, the Kingmakers came up with the name of the new Elulu of Mopa, HRM Oba Muyiwa Ibeun, who scored the highest points among all the applicants.
“The Certificate of Return was then issued by the Kingmakers to the new Elulu. The records of all the activities of the meetings of the kingmakers were duly documented.
“In any contest, there must be a winner and a loser. In the contest for the new Elulu of Mopa, Oba Muyiwa Ibeun has been duly elected as the winner,” Olafemi said.
Olafemi stressed that the Elulu stool was not synonymous to any particular clan in Mopa, but always open to any qualified candidate that signify interest.
He wondered why some people who participated in the process as contestant went to court to seek redress.
He, therefore, appealed to all other contestants, particularly the aggrieved aspirant to embrace peace and work with the new Elulu towards the development of Mopaland.
All the kingmakers that spoke at the press conference corroborated Oba Olafemi’s claims, and urged all aggrieved aspirants to allow peace to reign for the development of Mopaland.
Reeling out the detailed on how the new Elulu emerged, the Obaje of Mopaland, Chief Shola Mofobi, said a total of seven contestants signified their interest in Elulu stool.
“As Kingmakers who represented all the nine communities in Mopaland, we went all through the normal processes that we ought to follow in the selection of the new Elulu.
“The nine Kingmakers were involved in all the stages of the selection. We invited all the seven applicants for evaluation and grading which lasted for about 12 hours.
“At the end of the evaluation the result was tabulated and result sheet was generated with the total scores of each aspirant.
“David Ekundayo Ajolore scored 456 marks, Rotimi Komolafe – 417, Bamidele Bolorunduro – 450, Kehinde Elijah – 353, Dele Aiyenigba – 341, Oba Muyiwa Ibeun – 753, and Michael Godwin scored 313 marks.
“The aspirant that scored the highest marks of 753, HRM Oba Muyiwa Ibeun, was then selected, and thereafter coronated as the new Elulu of Mopa.
“But the man that went to court who came second scored 456 points, and he is all out misleading the people that the kingship is his father’s heritage.
“The process was very open, free, fair transparent and credible.
“The coronation was massively attended by all sons and daughters of Mopaland as well as dignitaries and government officials, representatives and heads of security agencies, among others,” Mofobi said.
In his remarks, the new Elulu, insisted that the selection process was carried out with utmost sincerity and transparency by the kingmakers without any external influence.
Oba Ibeun extended his hand of fellowship to all other aspirants and urged them to support and work with him for the peace and development of Mopaland.
“I came into the race for the purpose of effecting development in Mopa community.
“Since I came on board as the Elulu of Mopa I have acted on the issues of electricity, relocation of college of education technical to Mopa, among other issues that bothered the community.
“I am set out for development of Mopa community and I will not allow detractors to derailed me from achieving my laudable plans for my people” the royal father said.
