Ayo Fayose has refused to back down from his claim that Governor Seyi Makinde is engineering the removal of Olubadan Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, telling doubters to "keep their fingers crossed" as the week unfolds.

The former Ekiti governor first sounded the alarm on Sunday, predicting that moves against the monarch would begin within days. After both Makinde and the 82-year-old king labelled the allegation baseless, Fayose returned to social media on Tuesday, insisting the denial was a smokescreen.

He pointed to a fresh narrative emerging from the Oyo State Government that the Olubadan is plotting to impeach the governor, arguing that the counter-accusation proves his initial warning was accurate. "Those who are still in doubt… should just keep their fingers crossed and follow unfolding events," he posted on X.

The claim has split opinion across Ibadan, with traditional councils, politicians and residents trading words in marketplaces and on radio call-in programmes. Makinde's aides continue to dismiss the story as fiction, while palace sources say the monarch remains focused on his peace-building duties.

No impeachment notice has been tabled before the Oyo House of Assembly and no formal query has been served on the Olubadan, leaving observers guessing what shape Fayose's predicted showdown will take.

💡 NaijaBuzz Take

Fayose's gamble is less about the Olubadan's stool than about positioning himself as the last loud defender of Yoruba tradition against a governor eyeing national office; by forcing a public denial he has already achieved the first objective—placing Makinde on the defensive inside his own state.

The episode fits a wider pattern in South-West politics where ex-governors, stripped of immunity but desperate to stay relevant, weaponise cultural institutions against incumbents. Fayose's playbook mirrors Bola Tinubu's 2005 face-off with the late Oba of Lagos and Ibikunle Amosun's 2017 clash with the Alake—both used alleged royal meddling to rally ethnic loyalty ahead of larger contests.

For Nigeria's other traditional polities, the spat is a live tutorial: once a palace is dragged into partisan cross-fire, its moral capital erodes fast. If the Olubadan, a globally respected monarch, becomes a prop in a proxy war, lesser stools from the Niger Delta to the Sahel will find it harder to stay above electoral brawls that increasingly turn violent.

Watch whether Makinde invites the Council of Obas for a public peace meeting; a refusal would hand Fayose the optics of a governor at war with every beaded crown in Oyo State.

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