The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi, has accused the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, of allegedly plotting to set him up using a woman.
The monarch made the allegation in a video posted on his verified Instagram page on Tuesday, while speaking on the strained relationship between the two first-class monarchs.
He claimed that he played a role in helping Ooni Ogunwusi ascend the throne but alleged that the latter later turned against him out of fear that he might reveal certain sensitive information.
According to Oba Akanbi, a woman from Canada, whom he claimed not to know, was allegedly sent to entrap him and ended up living in his palace for three years. The monarch further alleged that the woman bore a child whose paternity remains unconfirmed pending a DNA test.
The Oluwo also claimed that he was poisoned twice and survived an assassination attempt during the period, accusing the Ooni of providing accommodation for the woman and questioning the circumstances surrounding her alleged meeting with the monarch in a hotel. However, he did not disclose the name of the hotel where the incident allegedly occurred.
The development is the latest in the ongoing tensions among prominent Yoruba traditional rulers.
Recently, a similar confrontation erupted between the Ooni of Ife and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Akeem Owoade, over the controversial conferment of the title Okanlomo of Yorubaland on Ibadan businessman Chief Dotun Sanusi by the Ooni.
The Alaafin, through his media aide Bode Durojaiye, insisted that no traditional ruler other than himself had the authority to bestow a title covering the entire Yorubaland and issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Ooni to revoke the title or “face the consequences.”
In response, the Ooni’s spokesperson, Moses Olafare, dismissed the ultimatum, stating that the monarch had decided to leave the matter “in the court of public opinion.”