Nine princes, at the weekend, emerged top contenders from the Giesi Ruling House for the vacant stool of Ooni of Ife, vacated by Oba Okunade Sijuwade, who died recently in a London hospital.

Initially, 35 individuals from the ruling house were said to have shown interest in the stool, a development that made the Giesi family to set up a committee to work on the list of contestants, with the intent to choose a capable candidate. It was gathered that the ruling house held a meeting at the weekend, in the family compound at Agbedede Lane in Ile-Ife.

A very reliable source at the meeting said yesterday that the report of a selection screening committee set up to prune down the list of the initial 35 aspirants was submitted to Prince Modupe Fadehan, head of Giesi family.

The source, who attended the meeting but preferred anonymity, in a telephone chat, said: “Well, that is a good development for us and we are sure that a good man will be picked as the Ooni. This is the normal process and we know it will not cause disaffection.

“The normal thing is that the Ruling House will send names of qualified candidates to the kingmakers. For instance, the Ogboru family sent 14 names, out of which the late Oba Sijuwade emerged.”

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