Next Alaafin: Ruling house limits aspirants to 50

Though there may be a huge number of aspirants for the vacant position of the Alaafin of Oyo, the Agunloye ruling house of Oyo Kingdom has agreed to entertain only 50 candidates in the race to produce the next king.

An elder in the ruling house told The Nation that family decided to streamline the number of aspirants to make the process easier.

According to him, the Agunloye family is made up of five branches – Ilaka, Akingbeyin, Gbadegesin, Agogo Ija and Owoade – and the larger family has agreed that each branch should limit its aspirants to 10.

He added: “We have agreed to limit the number of aspirants to 10 in each family branch so we won’t have an uncontrollable number. I pray it works. Aspirants are to submit their letter of intent to their family heads who will take them to the larger Agunloye family meeting scheduled for May 21. Leaders of the larger Agunloye family will then take the letters to Baba Iyaji (head of princes) in Oyo, who will hand over the applications to the Oyomesi for final selection.”

The Oyomesi is the council of chiefs that rules with the Alaafin. It is headed by the Basorun, the prime minister.When asked if the Oyomesi has the power to disqualify any prince, the elder said the council has no such power.

“The only way Oyomesi will choose is by consulting the Ifa oracle. The Oyomesi will present all applicants to Ifa who will pick the best for Oyo,” he added.

The elder also pointed out that consultation with Ifa oracle will be witnessed by representatives of the Agunloye family to ensure transparency.

The Nation also gathered that aspirants are already submitting their intent letters. The Gbadegesin family, it was learnt, will meet this Saturday to finalise decisions on aspirants.