The indigenes of Owo/Ose Federal Constituency of Ondo State have rejected the creation of a new Ose State, as being proposed in the National Assembly. 

Leaders, traditional rulers, stakeholders, and prominent indigenes from the two local government areas have unanimously rejected the proposal, primarily citing a lack of consultation and the controversial designation of Ikare-Akoko as the proposed state capital.

A member of the House of Representatives, Mr Ife Ehindero, of the Akoko North-East/Akoko North-West Federal Constituency, moved a bill to create the new state, and it has reportedly scaled through the first reading.

According to the proposal, Ikare Akoko will be the capital, if the process eventually succeeds.

However, in a stakeholders’ conference held in Owo, the communities issued a communiqué describing the proposal as “procedurally defective, morally indefensible, politically provocative and economically untenable.”

Led by the Olowo of Owo, Oba Ajibade Ogunoye, the stakeholders argue that Owo was the historical administrative headquarters of the defunct Owo Division, which encompassed the entire Akoko region. They asserted that any future state creation involving their territory must be based on inclusive consultations, with Owo being the only “historically consistent, politically justifiable, and infrastructurally equipped location” for a capital.

Ogunoye said, “We are one and should continue to be united. Even if there are issues, we should sit down and resolve them. Ose and Owo are inseparable because we share so many things in common. We share the same tradition, and we speak the same dialect. We should not give room for cracks among us.