The Royal Traditional Council of Ife on Wednesday debunked reports that the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade, Olubuse II had passed on.
The Council, made up of all traditional chiefs and title holders in Ile-Ife, said Oba Sijuade was in sound state of health and if he was truly dead, the council remained the only credible authority to announce the demise of the king.
The Lowa of Ife, Oba Joseph Ijaodola, said the report in the media about the monarch's death in a London hospital was untrue.
Also speaking, secretary Royal Traditional Council of Ife, the Ladin of Ife, High Chief Adetoye Odewole, said the Ooni is hale and hearty and he even spoke to the chiefs on the phone few hours earlier.
He also said that “those behind the death story are enemies of Ife and as I speak with you, chiefs have not heard anything like that. This is not the first time such rumour will be carried about our father.
"The same rumour surfaced in 1984, also in 2004 and now, these people are coming up with another rumour. Oba Sijuade remains in sound state of health” he said.
The Ooni had earlier been reported to have passed on in a London hospital after a brief illness.
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