The Olu of Owode in Obafemi/Owode Local Government of Ogun State, Oba Kolawole Sowemimo, has confirmed his suspension for two months without salaries by the Egba Traditional Council. The suspension was reportedly imposed over alleged abuse of naira notes.
In a conversation with our correspondent, Sowemimo explained that the suspension was announced during a traditional rulers’ meeting on Friday. The monarch admitted that the council took issue with his expenditure on a musician, leading to the disciplinary action.
“They said the suspension was due to the way I spent money on one musician. When I was asked if I had anything to say, I stood up and apologized for whatever I had done wrong, and the suspension, initially set for three months without salaries, was reduced to two months. I totally accept the verdict of the council because it is the person that we love that we chastise, so I am good with the decision,” he stated.
The controversy arose from a viral video in early January, showing the royal father adorning popular Fuji musician Wasiu Ayinde with knitted new N1,000 notes as a garland. The Egba Traditional Council deemed this act as a public degradation of Nigerian currency, which is against the Central Bank of Nigeria’s regulations.
Sowemimo’s suspension was announced during the Egba Traditional Council February statutory meeting, chaired by the Alake and paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo. The suspension, recommended by the Ethics Committee, prohibits the monarch from parading himself as a traditional ruler during this period.
Furthermore, the resolution emphasizes that Sowemimo should not be invited or seen at any government or public function as a traditional ruler, and for three months, he should not receive any payments.
The Chairman of the three-member Ethics Committee, Oba Saka Matemilola, disclosed that the decision was reached after examining the viral video, where Sowemimo breached the ethics of Yoruba traditional institutions by defacing Nigeria’s currency.
The committee chairman, who is the Olowu of Owu, noted that the public condemnation of the act inundated the council with derisive comments on the traditional institution. He emphasized that the Oba’s action contradicted Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.
In a related development, the National Orientation Agency had issued a stern warning to the embattled traditional ruler last month, characterizing the display as an abuse of the national currency that could attract imprisonment, fines, or both.
