The Fusengbuwa Ruling House of Ijebu-Ode has approached the Ogun State High Court, seeking an order compelling the state government to resume and conclude the process for selecting the next Awujale of Ijebuland.
Drivetvnews gathered that the Awujale throne became vacant following the death of the late monarch, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, who died on July 13, 2025, at the age of 91.
Following his death, 95 members of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House, comprising 94 princes and one princess, expressed interest in contesting for the vacant stool.
However, on December 11, 2025, the Ogun State Government cancelled the selection exercise and directed the ruling house to restart the process in accordance with the law, citing the need to prevent prolonged litigation.
The government subsequently issued a letter on January 6, 2026, authorising the Fusengbuwa Ruling House to resume the process. But on January 20, 2026, the exercise was suspended again, with the government directing the ruling house and the Awujale Kingmakers’ Council to await further instructions.
The ruling house has now challenged the government’s actions in court.
The suit, marked HCJ/149/2026, was filed at the High Court of Justice, Ijebu-Ode Judicial Division, on August 21, 2026. The claimants are Otunba AbduLateef Adebayo Owoyemi, Otunba Adedokun Ajidagba and Prof. Fassy Yusuf.
They joined the Ogun State Government, the Awujale Kingmakers’ Council and five other defendants, including the Chairman of Ijebu-Ode Local Government, Dare Alebiosu.
The suit also challenges the alleged lockdown of the Awujale Palace by the police, which the claimants said was carried out on the instructions of the administration of Governor Dapo Abiodun.
According to the ruling house, police officers allegedly entered the palace shortly after midnight on January 20, 2026, less than 24 hours after the list of nominees had been submitted, and prevented the kingmakers from meeting to select a candidate from the 95 nominees.
The claimants further alleged that the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ganiyu Hamzat, petitioned the Eleweeran Police Station in Abeokuta on February 2, 2026, asking that members of the kingmakers and principal officers of the ruling house be invited for questioning over alleged bribery and financial inducements.
The ruling house, however, maintains that no evidence or formal petition substantiating the allegations was presented. It also claimed that investigations conducted by the police and the Department of State Services did not establish any wrongdoing.
In their case, the claimants are asking the court to declare that the nomination process was validly completed and that the kingmakers are legally required under Sections 16(1)(e)-(f) of the relevant law to select a candidate from the submitted list and forward the nominee’s name to the State Executive Council.
They also argued that Section 22 of the law requires the Executive Council to act on the selection made by the kingmakers.
Among their other requests, the ruling house wants the court to order the kingmakers to reconvene within seven days of judgment and conclude the selection process.
They are also seeking an injunction restraining the state government and security agencies from further interfering with the selection exercise.
Counsel to the claimants, led by Otunba Olusegun Otayemi, argued in the originating summons that Ogun State’s chieftaincy law establishes a sequential process involving nomination, selection and approval, which must be followed once the process has commenced.
The legal team also relied on previous judicial decisions, including Menakaya v. Menakaya and Garba v. University of Maiduguri, in support of its arguments concerning statutory duties and fair hearing.
The case has yet to be heard by the court.
