The palace of the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, has rubbished the 48-hour ultimatum given to him by the Alaafin of Oyo, Akeem Owoade, on Monday, to revoke the Okanlomo of Oodua title conferred on Ibadan-based engineer, Dotun Sanusi, popularly known as Ilaji.

Spokesperson for the Ooni, Moses Olafare, in a statement on Facebook on Tuesday, said his principal has directed him not to respond to the “empty threat” by the Alaafin.

Mr Olafare wrote, “From Ooni’s Palace: My principal has directed me against issuing a press release on the empty threat of the Alawada Babasala. We can not dignify the undignifyable (sic) with an official response. We leave the matter to be handled in the public court of opinion as it is already being treated. Let’s rather focus on narratives that unite us rather than the ones capable of dividing us.”

The Ooni’s spokesperson ended the Facebook statement with, “48 Hours My Foot!!!”.

The Alaafin had stated that the conferment of chieftaincy titles on anyone in Yorubaland was his exclusive right, backed by a Supreme Court judgment, making the Ooni’s action null and void.

The Alaafin, therefore, demanded the “revocation of the so-called Okanlomo of Yorubaland chieftaincy title conferred on Engineer Dotun Sanusi within 48 HOURS or face the consequences”.