TheCable

The Ile Ife traditional council met with Rauf Aregbesola, governor of Osun state, on Thursday.

Insisting that Okunade Sijuwade, the Ooni of Ife, is still alive, the chiefs, led by Joseph Ijaodola, the Lowa of Ife, said they would have been the first to know had the Ooni truly joined his ancestors.

Ijaodola said their visit to the governor was to intimate him on the actual situation of things in relation to media reports concerning the monarch in the last 48 hours.

The media had reported that Sijuwade died at a private hospital in the United Kingdom but the palace refuted the report, describing it as mere rumour.

Ijaodola said the enemies of the palace were behind the reports and prayed that Ooni lives long.

“Sixteen of us are his chiefs and when he was travelling out, he didn’t look like he was going to die and should that have happened to him, we would have been informed even before anyone would hear about it,” Ijaodola said.

“We were shocked when we heard the rumour.”

On his part, Aregbesola thanked his guests for the visit and wish the king well. However, he and some top government officials in the state met the chiefs behind closed doors.