The controversy over the selection of the next Awujale of Ijẹbu Kingdom in Ogun State has deepened after four members of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House filed a lawsuit against 12 family members.
The case was instituted at the Ogun State High Court in Ijebu-Ode by Abdulateef Owoyemi, the chairman of the ruling house; his deputy, Dokun Ajidagba; Vice Chairman Fassy Yusuf; and Secretary Jeremiah Salami, the Punch newspaper reported on Sunday.
They are challenging allegations that financial inducements and other forms of manipulation influenced the selection process for the next Awujale.
In the suit, numbered HCJ/167/2026 and filed on 16 September, Olusegun “AK Black” Olusoga, Ridwan Oduneye, Muyiwa Adeleye, Taiwo Ajumo, Sikiru Oluwole, Kehinde Lawal, Lukman Oludare, Abdul Onalaja, Ashiru Mufutau, Osiyemi Johnson, Adeleke “Leke Adeyemi” Adeyemi and Olukayode Otufale were listed as defendants.
They are demanding N1 billion from the defendants over allegations they described as false claims of financial inducement and other misconduct against them and their family.
Restraining order
The complainants further asked the court to permanently bar the defendants from presenting themselves as leaders or representatives of the ruling house.
They explained that the development followed a resolution reached by members of the ruling house at a meeting on 7 November 2025. The meeting came a day after the Ogun State Government brought the different factions together at the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, on 6 November.
They said the three previously separate sections, represented by Mr Owoyemi, Mr Ajidagba and Mr Yusuf, were subsequently consolidated into a single ruling house. They maintained that members unanimously agreed to recognise the trio as the leadership of the newly unified structure.
They said Mr Owoyemi, a former National President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, headed the leadership, with Mr Ajidagba and Mr Yusuf serving alongside him.
According to the claimants, the group then assumed responsibility for coordinating the nomination of candidates for the vacant Awujale stool on behalf of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House.
They said the nominees’ names were later submitted to the Awujale kingmakers, headed by the Ogbeni Oja of Ijebuland, Sunny Kuku.
An illegal fact-finding committee
According to the claimants, a faction of the family, comprising eight of the defendants, broke away from the main ruling house and, in June, constituted a fact-finding panel without the necessary authority.
They alleged that the panel investigated claims of financial inducement involving the leadership of the ruling house and later submitted its findings at a meeting held by the faction on 9 August.
The claimants said the meeting lacked the approval of the ruling house but that the faction nevertheless used it to announce the purported removal of Mr Owoyemi, Mr Ajidagba and Mr Yusuf as family leaders.
They further alleged that the defendants communicated the decision to government officials and other stakeholders through a letter dated 11 August.
The letter was sent to Governor Dapo Abiodun, Ganiyu Hamzat, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Dare Alebiosu, Chairman of Ijebu-Ode Local Government, the kingmakers and others.
The claimants alleged that the defendants informed the recipients that they had removed the existing leadership of the ruling house and asked them not to recognise or transact official business with the claimants on behalf of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House.
They said the faction later sent another letter, dated 2 September, to the governor, the commissioner, the kingmakers, and other stakeholders, announcing Olukayode Otufale as the “Single Unified Olori-Ebi”.
The claimants alleged that the faction also instructed all persons and institutions dealing with the ruling house to direct future correspondence to Mr Otufale.
They, however, dismissed the purported changes as invalid, arguing that no lawful authority had convened a general meeting with the power to make decisions binding on the entire ruling house.
The claimants maintained that no valid resolution had been passed by a properly constituted meeting to remove them from their positions or install the 12th defendant or any other person as their replacement.
Prejudice
The complainants also asked the court to stop the defendants from continuing to present themselves as the head and principal officers of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House before the state government, the kingmakers, the Ijebu-Ode Local Government and the public.
They said failure to restrain the defendants could permanently affect their interests and those of other members of the ruling house and potentially disrupt the ongoing process of selecting the next Awujale of Ijebuland.
They asked the court to recognise Mr Owoyemi as the duly constituted Olori-Ebi and Chairman of the ruling house. In contrast, Mr Ajidagba, Mr Yusuf and Mr Salami should be recognised as Deputy Chairman, Vice Chairman and General Secretary respectively.
They said the positions were established by the ruling house’s November 7, 2025, resolution. They also asked the court to declare that the alleged fact-finding committee and the meetings of 9 August and 2 September could not lawfully remove, suspend, query, discipline or replace any of them.
According to them, the committee and meetings had no such powers under the native law and custom, tradition or resolution governing the ruling house. They further want the court to invalidate their alleged removal from office, which they said was contained in an 11 August letter, as well as the proceedings and resolutions that purportedly led to the decision.
The complainants also challenged the purported appointment of Mr Otufale or any other person as the “Single Unified Olori-Ebi” or as a principal officer of the ruling house.
They also sought a perpetual injunction barring the defendants and anyone acting through them from presenting themselves, Mr Otufale or another person, as the Olori-Ebi or any of the principal office holders of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House.
They also demanded N1 billion in general damages for the alleged harm to their reputation, status, and offices. They said the claim for damages was separate from any personal damages claim that the third claimant may pursue in Suit No. HCJ/153/2026.
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Backstory
The fresh legal action followed a petition filed months earlier by Wasiu Adesanya, a member of the Funsegbuwa Ruling House in Ijebuland, who accused some individuals of attempting to bypass the established procedure for selecting candidates for the vacant Awujale throne.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Adesanya, represented by lawyer Wahab Shittu, wrote to the Ogun State Executive Council on 8 January through the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
In the petition, Mr Adesanya claimed that some members of the ruling house had introduced processes that did not conform to the Ogun State Obas and Chiefs Law or the existing chieftaincy declaration governing the Awujale stool.
The throne became vacant in July 2025 after the death of Oba Sikiru Adetona, who died aged 91 after reigning for 65 years.
The Ogun State Government suspended the selection exercise in January 2026 after receiving petitions from security agencies and other stakeholders. The suspension followed an earlier stoppage of the process in December 2025 over concerns about the procedure.
Before the government halted the exercise, the ruling house had produced 95 aspirants during its December nomination exercise in Ijebu-Ode. The list comprised 94 princes and one princess.
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