The Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty Oba Ewuare II, has categorically stated that Labour Party candidate Olumide Akpata is not a “child of the Palace,” contrary to Akpata’s claims...READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
The correction was made when Akpata, accompanied by the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, met with the monarch in his palace in Benin City.
During the meeting, Akpata repeatedly referred to himself as a “son of the Palace” in English and the local dialect.
However, the Oba swiftly corrected him, stating that he had asked one of his chiefs to verify Akpata’s claims, only to find that the candidate had no direct or distant links to the Palace.
“You are an industrious son of the soil, but to say you are a child of the Palace…I am not aware that any of my children is contesting or is a politician.
“So I need to make that clarification for the sake of the public and the fourth estate of the realm,” the Oba remarked.
A member of Akpata’s entourage later expressed disappointment with the Oba’s public rebuke, stating that the correction should have been made privately instead of in the presence of the press. However, the Labour Party member acknowledged that as the Oba, “he can’t be wrong.”
His words: “We are not really happy with the manner in which our candidate was rebuked by the Oba for claiming to be the son of the palace.
“In my opinion, any Benin or Edo person is a son of the palace, as we all came from the same source.
“He should have rebuked him in private and not in the full glare of the press and our guest. But he is our Oba, and he can’t be wrong”.
