Ijebu-Ode’s traditional chiefs have dissolved the interim administrative council established after the death of Oba Sikiru Adetona and installed a 14-member Adele Oba Awujale in Council to manage the town’s affairs, raising fresh questions about the legal authority and recognition of the body overseeing the kingdom until a new monarch emerges.
The decision marks a significant change in the administration of Ijebuland during the prolonged vacancy of the Awujale stool. It also brings the traditional framework for managing the interregnum into focus, particularly the relationship between customary authority and the Ogun State government’s statutory powers over chieftaincy matters.
The resolution was adopted at a meeting attended by the Ilamuren, Pampa, Odi and other traditional chiefs in Ijebu-Ode. Under the arrangement, members of the former Awujale Interregnum Administrative Council (AIAC) are expected to relinquish their previous positions and assume membership of the newly constituted council.
The Ogun State Government had established the AIAC about a month after the death of the 91-year-old monarch in July 2025. The body was created to oversee administrative and traditional responsibilities while the succession process continued. Chief Folorunso Kuku, the Ogbeni Oja of Ijebuland, chaired the arrangement.
However, the chiefs now maintain that the Adele Oba Awujale in Council provides a more appropriate customary structure for managing the institution during the vacancy.
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In a resolution signed by its chairman, Dr Sonny Kuku, the new council cited the Ogun State Chiefs Law of 2021 and the 1957 Declaration governing the Awujale chieftaincy. It contended that the 2021 law does not expressly establish an Awujale Regency Council or prescribe a general procedure for appointing a regent during an interregnum.
The chiefs also relied on the traditional institution of the Adele Oba Awujale in Council, which they said falls within the customary framework recognised by the existing law and declaration.
The 14-member body includes Dr Sonny Kuku, Chief Rasheed Adesanya, Chief O.B. Okuboyejo, Chief Chris Funmilola Okunowo, Chief Jide Ajayi and Chief Mrs B.O. Osibogun, alongside other titled chiefs representing established positions within Ijebuland.
Its stated responsibility is to administer the affairs of Ijebu-Ode and exercise appropriate interim functions until a substantive Awujale is selected and installed.
But the resolution raises an important institutional question: does the chiefs’ decision automatically confer statutory recognition on the new council? The resolution presents the chiefs’ interpretation of the applicable customs and laws.
It does not, by itself, establish whether the Ogun State Government has formally approved the change or how any competing claims to administrative authority will be resolved.
That distinction matters because traditional institutions operate within both customary practices and the state’s legal framework. Any uncertainty over the authority responsible for managing the interregnum could complicate administrative decisions and the eventual succession process.
The new council says its arrangement is intended to preserve continuity, protect the Awujale institution and maintain stability in Ijebuland. Its effectiveness will depend not only on the support of the traditional chiefs but also on clarity over its legal standing and relationship with the state government.
As the Awujale stool is still vacant, the immediate concern is to ensure that the transition does not become another source of division within one of Ogun State’s most prominent traditional institutions.
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