Ogun Monarch Suspended For Abusing Naira Notes

Oba Kolawole Sowemimo, the Olu of Owode in Obafemi/Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, has been suspended for two months without pay.

A viral video in early January showed the royal father decorating a popular fuji musician, Wasiu Ayinde, with new notes of N1,000 .

The council moved against Sowemimo for publicly degrading Nigerian currency, an offence that contravenes the law of the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN).

However, during the Egba Traditional Council meeting chaired by the Alake and paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo on Friday, Oba Sowemimo was suspended.

The meeting in a joint resolution adopted the suspension of the monarch following the recommendation of its Ethics Committee which declared that during the period of his (Sowemimo) suspension, he should not parade himself as a traditional ruler.

It was further gathered that the resolution emphasised that Sowemimo should not be invited or seen at any government or public function as a traditional ruler, and for three months should not receive any payments

The Chairman of a three-member Ethics Committee of the Egba Traditional Council, Oba Saka Matemilola, who read the report of the committee, said that the committee came to its decision after examining the viral video in which Sowemimo breached the ethics of a Yoruba traditional institution by defacing Nigeria’s currency.

The committee chairman, who is the Olowu of Owu, said findings revealed that the embattled traditional ruler was seen holding strewn naira as a bead and hanging onto the neck of a musician in public.

The chairman added that a lot of public condemnation of the act inundated the council with derisive comments on the traditional institution, stressing that the said Oba’s action is in contradiction of Section 21(1) of Central Bank Act, 2007.

The suspended monarch confirmed the development on Saturday, stating that he was suspended due to the way he spent money on a musician.

“They said the suspension was due to the way I spent money on one musician.

“And when I was asked if I had anything to say, I stood up and apologised for whatever I had done wrong and the suspension which was earlier announced to be for three months without salaries was reduced to two months.

“I totally accept the verdict of the council because it is the person that we love that we chastise, so I am good with the decision,” he said.

Reacting to the video in a statement signed and directed to the monarch, Director General, NOA, Lanre Issa-Onilu, said the display was an abuse of the national currency that attracts imprisonment, fines or both.