By KEMI KASUMU
The palace of Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi, has debunked a claim that it was threatened by Department of State Services (DSS) to cancel the permission earlier granted to a group led by Mr. Omoyele Sowore for the use of Akure Town Hall managed by the palace.
According to a statement issued, on Monday, by Chief Press Secretary to the Deji of Akure, Mr. Michael Adeyeye, and copy of which was sent to The DEFENDER, the palace denied any such incident happening by DSS.
Sowore, a fiery pro-democracy activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), had made the claim in a viral X post in which he called on ailing Governor Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) to resign.
An indigene of Ondo State from the Southern Senatorial zone, Sowore wrote: “I received a letter from the Palace of Deji of Akure in Ondo State this evening cancelling my booking of the Akure Hall for our proposed Townhall meeting on #AkeredoluMustResign protest scheduled for December 16th 2023. In it, the Palace claimed I was “deceitful “in my booking request for the venue, let me state clearly that this is slanderous and dishonest, I made it clear that my request was for a townhall meeting to discuss Gov. @RotimiAkeredolu absence from work and the state of governance in Ondo state.
“I was asked to deposit N100k which I did yesterday and early this morning the palace gave me another contact to discuss possible discounts considering that we were booking the hall for public good. I later received a call from the palace that the @OfficialDSSNG ‘invaded” the palace and asked the monarch to refund my money immediately.
“I have instructed our lawyers to file a lawsuit against the palace and the DSS immediately, meanwhile the townhall meeting will hold as scheduled at Akure Hall on Saturday December 16th 2023 as scheduled. NO GOING BACK! #AkeredoluMustResign”
But the palace according to Michael Adeyeye said it was not true.
“The attention of the Palace of the Deji & Paramount Ruler of Akure Kingdom have been drawn to a recent publication on the verified twitter handle of Mr Omoyele Sowore which had gone viral on some social media alleging that men of the Department of State Security Services came to threaten His Majesty, the Deji of Akure to reverse the initial approval granted for the usage of Akure Town Hall.
“We wish to state unequivocally that, there was never any time that the DSS threatened the Deji’s of Akure or anyone on the premise of seeking the reversal of the temporary approval granted for the usage of Akure Town Hall by the Deji’s Palace Property Committee
“For the avoidance of doubt and save for the unsuspecting Public, the withdrawal of the approval earlier granted by the Deji’s Palace Property Committee which is saddled with the responsibility of managing the facility was sequel to the fact that the request for the usage of the facility was done under a pretentious manner which conceal the real motive of the usage of the Hall.
“It is an established standard that, anyone or organizations requesting the usage of the hall or any community facilities for any activities must make full disclosure of the purpose of the usage.
“Without mincing words, the hall is made available for all activities including social events, religious activities, and political gatherings and rally amongst others. However, concealing the real motive for a gathering for which an approval for the usage of the hall is sought negates the standing rules for getting the facility approval .
“However, the initial approval granted which necessitated the payment of a deposit of one hundred thousand naira was for a roundtable meeting of coalition of civil societies and not for a meeting point for any procession.
“While the palace strongly acknowledges the right of individual organizations and societies to lawful assembly, procession and protest as the case may be in a democratic society, But, seeking the approval for the usage of palace facility or any other should not be done in a deceitful manner as such action will leave the Palace Property Committee with no option than reversing any approval granted under such manner.
“We wish to inform the General Public that the approval for the usage of the facility was not in anyway as a result of any form of threat or harassment from DSS or any quarter but rather on the fact that the approval was seek in a fraudulent manner which negates the rules for seeking the usage of the hall,” he said.
