SaharaReporters had reported how the government queried the paramount traditional ruler for refusing to welcome President Muhammadu Buhari to the state.
The Kogi State Government has given the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Ado Ibrahim, 48 hours to re-submit his response to a recent query with the proper title of the stool as recognised by the Kogi State Chieftaincy Law 2006 and his letter of appointment.
SaharaReporters had reported how the government queried the paramount traditional ruler for refusing to welcome President Muhammadu Buhari to the state.
President Buhari was on December 29, 2022, in the state to inaugurate some projects built by Governor Yahaya Bello.
However, the palace of the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland was rocked by a bomb place on that particular day.
About four people were killed by the blast, with some others injured.
In a letter to the prominent monarch signed by Enimola Eniola, Director of Chieftaincy Affairs, Ibrahim was accused of exhibiting deliberate attitude and actions capable of bringing “Kogi State and Ebira land in particular to grave disrepute.”
Reacting to the query, Dr. Ado Ibrahim described it as “very unfortunate” and “unfair to his ripe age and experience.”
He had, in his response letter addressed himself as “Atta Ebira” instead of Ohinoyi of Ebiraland.
In a letter addressed to the monarch on Monday, the State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Salami Ozigi, declared that the Atta Ebira title was unknown to state law and that any correspondence with the Atta title was unacceptable for official purposes.
The state government stated that his response was invalid because he did not use the appropriate legal title.
Remember that the monarch allegedly disrespected the offices of President Muhammadu Buhari and Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello when the President visited the state on Thursday, December 29, 2022, to commission landmark projects carried out by the current administration.
Following the controversy, prominent Ebiralans supported the state government's inquiry and chastised their traditional ruler on the issue, claiming that monarchs must respect constituted authorities.