The Fusengbuwa Ruling House in Ijebu-Ode has asked the Ogun State High Court to compel the state government to continue and conclude with the selection process of the next Awujale of Ijebuland.
Recall that the Awujale stool became vacant following the death of the late monarch, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, on Sunday, July 13, 2025, at the age of 91.
Following his demise, no fewer than 95 people, including 94 princes and a princess from the Fusengbuwa ruling house of Ijebu Ode, indicated their interest as contestants for the vacant stool.
However, the Ogun State Government on December 11, 2025, cancelled the selection process and ordered the ruling house to restart the exercise in strict compliance with the law to avoid prolonged litigation.
Following this directive, the government, through a January 6, 2026 letter, cleared the Fusengbuwa Ruling House to resume the process. But on January 20, 2026, it suspended the selection process again, instructing all parties, including the Fusengbuwa Ruling House and Awujale Kingmakers’ Council, to await further directives to protect peace and the integrity of the stool.
DAILY POST reports that the Fusengbuwa Ruling House in a suit filed by Otunba AbduLateef Adebayo Owoyemi (Oloriebi/Family Chairman), Otunba Adedokun Ajidagba (Family Deputy Chairman) and Prof. Fassy Yusuf (Vice Chairman), dragged the state government, the Awujale kingmakers and five others, including the Chairman of Ijebu-Ode Local Government, Dare Alebiosu, before the court.
The suit, marked HCJ/149/2026, was filed before the High Court of Justice, Ijebu Ode Judicial Division, and sworn to on August 21, 2026. It challenged the lockdown of the Awujale Palace Ijebu-Ode, which the claimants alleged was carried out by the police on the instructions of Governor Dapo Abiodun-led government.
The ruling house is also seeking declarations that the alleged interference was unlawful and that the government lacked the legal authority to halt the selection process.
The claimants alleged that when the nomination process commenced, less than 24 hours after the list was submitted, police officers stormed the Awujale Palace after midnight on January 20, 2026, and obstructed the kingmakers from meeting to select a preferred candidate among the 95 nominees.
The suit named the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ganiyu Hamzat as among the defendants, alleging that Hamzat petitioned the Eleweeran Police Station in Abeokuta on February 2, 2026, requesting that the kingmakers and principal officers of the ruling house be invited for questioning regarding allegations of bribery and financial inducements.
The Fusengbuwa Ruling House, however, contends that no evidence or formal petition supporting the allegations was presented. It further claims that investigations by the police and the Department of State Services did not establish any wrongdoing.
In their suit, the claimants asked the court to declare that the nomination process validly completed and that the kingmakers are legally required under Sections 16(1)(e)-(f) of the law to select a candidate from the submitted list and forward the name to the State Executive Council.
They also contend that the Executive Council is required under Section 22 of the law to act on the kingmakers’ selection.
Among other prayers, the ruling house is asking the court to order the kingmakers to reconvene within seven days of judgment and complete the selection process and sought an injunction restraining the state government and security agencies from further interfering with the process.
Counsel to the claimants, led by Otunba Olusegun Otayemi, in the originating summon, argued that the state’s chieftaincy law provides a sequential process of nomination, selection and approval, which must be followed once initiated.
The legal team also cited previous judicial decisions, including Menakaya v. Menakaya and Garba v. University of Maiduguri, in support of its arguments on statutory duties and fair hearing.
The case is yet to be heard.
