The Olubadan-In-Council has, today Monday, nominated 80-year old former Oyo State’s Governor Rashidi Ladoja as the 44th Olubadan of Ibadanland.
Ladoja will be crowned in place of the Late Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Olakulehin, who joined his ancestors on July 7.
The nomination process held at the Olubadan Palace, Oke-Aremo, in the Ibadan North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Balogun Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Tajudeen Ajibola, who chaired the meeting, said: “We (members of the Olubadan-In-Council) have all signed and nominated Oba Rashidi Ladoja as the new Olubadan of Ibadanland.
“We will forward the resolutions of our meeting to our Governor, Seyi Makinde. He will now pick a date to present a staff of Office to the new Olubadan.
“The late Olubadan, Oba Owolabi Olakulehin, will be buried this week. So, this week is not feasible.
“He (Makinde) may decide to pick three weeks, two weeks or one week.”
PROFILE OF RASHIDI LADOJA
Ladoja was born on 25 September 1944 in Gambari village near Ibadan.
He attended Ibadan Boys High School (1958–1963) and Olivet Baptist High School (1964–1965) before studying at the University of Liège, Belgium (1966–1972) where he earned a degree in chemical engineering.
He obtained a job with Total Nigeria, an oil company, where he worked for 13 years in various positions before entering private business in 1985.
His business interests include shipping, manufacturing, banking, agriculture and transportation.
He was elected to the Senate of Nigeria in 1993 during the short-lived Nigerian Third Republic, he was a member of the United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) during the Abacha Political Transition.
By 2000, Ladoja had become a director of Standard Trust Bank Limited.
Ladoja was elected governor of Oyo State in April 2003 on the PDP platform, and took office on 29 May 2003.
On 12 January 2006, Ladoja was impeached by Oyo State legislators and forced out of office.
His deputy, Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala, was sworn in as the new governor.
On 1st November 2006, the Appeal Court in the state capital, Ibadan, declared the impeachment null and illegal.
The Supreme Court upheld the decision on 11 November 2006, and Ladoja officially resumed office on 12 December 2006.
Ladoja failed to win the PDP nomination as candidate for a second term.
Ladoja was the governorship candidate for Accord party in Oyo State during the April 2011 and 2015 elections, he lost to Senator Abiola Ajimobi. He later merged his Accord Party into PDP in 2017. Dispute in PDP made him and other allies (from Labour Party, All Progressives Congress APC etc.) to move over African Democratic Congress (ADC) in 2018.
After a brief sojourn in ADC which proved to be a marriage of strange bedfellows, Ladoja with his followers moved to the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) in December 2018.
He became an Oba after he received a ceremonial beaded crown from reigning Olubadan and the Government of Oyo State on 12 August 2024.
Following the death of Oba Owolabi Olakulehin, the 43rd Olubadan, Ladoja was announced as the incoming Olubadan on 7 July 2025.
