Ohinoyi of Ebiraland land, Alhaji Ado Ibrahim, who was recently queried by the Kogi State government over his absence during President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent visit to the state has replied to the query, saying he was not invited for the visit.
This is just as he accused Governor Yahaya Bello of impersonating him with a “stranger” and double-dealing.
The traditional ruler, however, said he was only instructed on the night of December 28, 2022, by the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to stay back in his palace where the president will pay homage to him, upon arrival in Okene.
President Buhari paid an official visit to the state on December 29, 2022, but the Atta Ebira was conspicuously absent from a ceremony hosted in his honour, hence a query from the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, dated January 5, 2023.
In his response, “RE: LETTER OF QUERY,” with Ref number: MLCA/CH1/30/V1/8, the traditional ruler said he was neither informed nor invited to the event, adding that, during the grand reception for the President, Governor Bello told Buhari that he was ill, and that someone unknown to him was brought out to represent him and read out a welcome speech on his behalf, a speech he said he wasn’t aware of and didn’t approve.
Ibrahim further pointed out that despite not officially informing him of the President’s visit, the schedule of events indicated that President Buhari was billed to inaugurate the Ohinoyi’s Palace at 10:10am on the day of his visit, an indication that there was another palace the president was to commission, other than his current palace which he had been occupying since coronation in 1997.
“On the 29th of December, 2022 at about 8:15am, I received an unofficial copy of the visit programme of Mr President and I noted that Mr President was meant to commission the Ohinoyi’s Palace at 10:10am. This observation implied that Mr. President was to commission another Palace other than my current Palace that I have been occupying since I was coronated in 1997.
“It is worthy to note that as the Paramount Ruler of Ebiraland, I have not been officially informed of the existence of any new Palace. I therefore prepared in compliance to your instruction to receive Mr President as it is customary in our Traditional Institution and I quickly put together a memoriam to present to him to appreciate his 2nd visit to Okene since 1985, when he was received by HRH the late Ohinoyi of Ebira, Alh. Sanni Omolori. I made an enlarged photocopy of the photograph of the visit close to the chair which I intended to provide during the visit as attached,” the letter read in part.
The traditional ruler also lamented that since the unfortunate incident on the December 29, 2022, the query was the first communication, written or otherwise, from any official of the state to him, “without any commiserations or enquiries about the unfortunate bomb blast that led to the intended disruption of Mr President’s programme, loss of lives of innocent Ebira people, massive damages on my palace and rancour within my domain.”
