None of us has ever lived in the palace. We do not interfere in Ooni’s selection of Oloris – Sisters

The sisters of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II, have denied claims that they interfere in the selection of his queens and are at loggerheads with his Oloris.

The sisters were recently accused of meddling in the palace affairs after the monarch’s wife, Evangelist Naomi Silekunola, announced her separation from the monarch through an Instagram post on December 23, 2021. Naomi who has a son for the monarch said she tried to make the three-year union work but the Ooni’s public identity is at variance with “his true self”

After her post went viral, some social media users pointed fingers at the monarch’s sisters. They were accused of causing the rift between their brother and Naomi.

However in a statement titled, ‘Campaign of calumny against the Ooni of Ile Ife, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II & the royal sisters’, the sisters said there is no iota of truth to the allegations leveled against them. They stated that the monarch’s family has no say in his selection of who should be his Olori. They mentioned that they support the King’s Olori/s and have kept away from any of the matters concerning the private life of the monarch.

The statement in part reads

“We refer to the campaign of calumny presently ongoing in many media blogs, media houses, on the social media and by hatchet jobbers against our family targeting us, the sisters of the Ooni of Ife as being the cause of any or all forms of misunderstanding or ‘imaginary problems’ in the Palace. These despicable humans have been circulating the ‘fake’ news on various fake media outlets on matters none of them have an inkling of but will like to speak with unreserved authority.

In his immense wisdom, Kabiyesi from inception has separated the entire family from the activities of ruling our people forthrightly without any hindrances. His selection of who should be his Olori’s is also done without any form of hegemony or disturbance from any of us or the family. We support our Olori/s and have kept away from any of the matters concerning the private life of our revered King and father, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II.

We have continually been inundated on many social media (fake & real) of our supposed intrusion into Kabiyesi’s private life. Some of the ‘fake’ information has continually claimed that we the Royal sisters (Yeye 1, Yeye 2, Yeye 3, Yeye 4) live in the palace and usurp all manners of communication, and/or information concerning the daily activities of the Palace. This is totally untrue, damning and slanderous.

Since the Ooni of Ife ascended the throne of our forefathers, none of us (the sisters) has ever lived in the palace. None of us have ever been overtly or covertly been involved in any of the day-to-day activities of the palace. We do not make any decisions whatsoever and only visit the palace when there are special events that our family, the Giesi family are required to be involved according to tradition.

We all live in Lagos in our different homes with our different families and are extremely busy with our businesses. We have never stopped praying for the success of our revered King, peace in Yoruba land and prosperity to all our people.”

The royal sisters further said legal actions would be taken against media outlets that publish false claims about them.

The monarch’s marriage to Naomi would be the third that has crashed. Before being coronated king, the monarch was previously married to Adebukola Bombata in 2008 but the marriage failed. In 2016, he married Edo-born Zaynab-Otiti Obanor but the union lasted for 17 months before their separation. He then married Naomi in 2018 and they have a son together.