The frosty relationship between the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Dr. Ado Ibrahim and Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, may have degenerated further as the latter has insisted that he must appoint the new Chief Imam of Ebiraland, which is contrary to the tradition of the land.
The last Chief Imam, Alhaji Musa Galadima, died last week, at 90, and had since been buried according to Islamic rites.
Governor Bello was said to have boasted that he would soon appoint a successor and that heavens would not fall.
On the other hand, the Ohinoyi and the people of Ebiraland said he has no constitutional rights whatsoever and dared him to do so
The Ohinoyi said as the paramount ruler of Ebiraland and one of the foremost leaders of Islamic organisations in the country, he is the rightful person to appoint a new person to fill the position of the Chief Imam and not the governor.
“ I am the national vice president of Jama’atu Nasril Islam and the national vice president of the Nigeria Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, so, I should be in the position to appoint Imams and so on.
He added: “Not only because of my offices in the Islamic organisations but because I am a traditional ruler. That seemed not to have gone down well with the new administration here.
“The Chief Imam died few days ago and I am not in a rush to appoint somebody. I still want peace and to do my consultations. It is my right, and, if I do it, there is nothing you can do about it. But, what I heard was that he (the governor) was going to appoint someone the following day.
“I told the governor that I was not going to allow that. I called the Sultan two days ago and told him that I would not allow it because he is my son and there must be due respect to tradition and religion.
“The people came here to tell me that if he is going to kill all of them, they were ready to die, but, he would not appoint anybody. That was the outcome of our meeting.
“The Sultan has told him to stop that. He has told him that the person I put there all along, that is Naibi, should continue, and, at the right time, we will appoint the Chief Imam.”
Credit: Sun
