Ruling house sues Ogun government over Awujale succession
* The Fusengbuwa leadership has maintained that its nomination exercise was lawful and peaceful.
The Fusengbuwa Ruling House of Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, has sued Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, the state government and the Awujale kingmakers at the Ogun State High Court in Ijebu-Ode, asking the court to compel the completion of the process for selecting a successor to the late Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona.
The suit, dated August 21, 2026, was filed by Abdulateef Owoyemi, chairman of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House; Adedokun Ajidagba, deputy chairman; and Professor Fassy Yusuf, vice chairman.
The case comes after months of disagreement over the suspension of the succession process and the authority of the state government to halt it.
The defendants include Governor Dapo Abiodun; Ogun State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwasina Ogungbade, SAN; the Ogun State Executive Council; Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ganiyu Hamzat; the chairman and secretary of Ijebu-Ode Local Government; and members of the Awujale Afobaje/Kingmakers Council.
At the centre of the case is the question of whether Ogun State had the legal power to stop the traditional process after the Fusengbuwa Ruling House had completed its nomination exercise.
The ruling house is asking the court to determine whether the state government could order or facilitate the entry into and locking of the Awujale Palace on January 20, 2026, allegedly preventing the kingmakers from meeting and selecting a candidate.
It is also asking the court to determine whether the Obas and Chiefs Law of Ogun State 2021 gives the government authority to suspend or halt the nomination and selection process for the Awujale stool.
The dispute follows the death of Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona on July 13, 2025, aged 91. Oba Adetona had ruled Ijebuland for 65 years, making his reign one of the longest in Nigeria’s traditional history.
His death left one of the country’s most prominent traditional thrones vacant after more than six decades of continuity.
Under the customary arrangement governing the Awujale stool, four ruling houses are recognised in the succession process: Gbelegbuwa, Anikinaiya, Fusengbuwa and Fidipote. The Fusengbuwa Ruling House was next in line to produce a candidate following Oba Adetona’s death.
Ijebu-Ode Local Government notified the Fusengbuwa Ruling House in December 2025 that it was its turn to nominate candidates.
The local government subsequently authorised the house to begin its internal selection process, with January 12, 2026 set for the exercise.
In December 2025, the Ogun State Government cancelled the ongoing selection exercise and directed the Fusengbuwa Ruling House to restart it, citing procedural concerns and the possibility of future legal disputes.
The government later lifted the suspension on January 6, allowing the ruling house to proceed.
The Fusengbuwa Ruling House says it subsequently held its nomination meeting on January 12, within the period prescribed under Section 16 of the Obas and Chiefs Law of Ogun State 2021.
According to the claimants, 95 princes and princesses were nominated, and the resulting list was delivered to the nine-member Awujale Afobaje/Kingmakers Council on January 19.
The ruling house alleges that less than a day later, police officers entered the Awujale Palace after midnight and prevented the kingmakers from convening to consider the nominees.
The state government subsequently suspended the process again. Reports at the time said the government cited concerns about public order, the integrity of the selection exercise and petitions alleging bribery and financial inducement.
The claimants say no evidence or formal petition establishing wrongdoing was presented to them and maintain that investigations by the police and the Department of State Services did not establish any misconduct.
The legal challenge therefore seeks to establish whether the nomination process had already been validly completed and whether the kingmakers became legally obliged to choose a candidate from the submitted list and forward the name to the Ogun State Executive Council.
The claimants are relying particularly on Sections 16 and 22 of the Obas and Chiefs Law of Ogun State 2021.
They argue that the law creates a sequence in which the ruling house nominates candidates, the kingmakers select a candidate and the state authorities subsequently act on that selection.
Counsel to the claimants, led by Olusegun Otayemi, argued in the originating summons that the statutory process is sequential and cannot simply be halted after the relevant stages have been completed.
The ruling house is consequently asking the court to declare that its January 12 nomination exercise discharged its statutory responsibility and that it should not be required to reopen or repeat the exercise.
It also wants the court to declare that the kingmakers, having received the nomination list on January 19, are required to select a candidate and submit the name to the state government.
Among the most consequential reliefs sought is an order directing the kingmakers to reconvene within seven days of judgment and complete their part of the selection process.
The claimants are also seeking an injunction preventing the Ogun State Government and security agencies from interfering further with the process.
The case adds another chapter to an increasingly complicated succession dispute that has involved the state government, the ruling house, prospective candidates and other members of the Ijebu community.
The controversy has not been confined to the relationship between the ruling house and the government. In August, the Fusengbuwa leadership also petitioned Governor Dapo Abiodun over what it described as a breakaway faction within the family and asked the government not to recognise the group in matters relating to the Awujale selection.
The petition followed an internal dispute involving the recognised leadership of the ruling house.
The Fusengbuwa leadership accused members of the breakaway group of attempting to challenge the authority of its chairman, deputy chairman and vice chairman.
Those allegations have themselves been disputed. Ridwan Oduneye, identified in reports as associated with the breakaway group, said the group was concerned with restructuring the ruling house rather than interfering with the selection process.
The internal disagreement has added another layer to a succession exercise that was already facing scrutiny over its legal and procedural basis.
The Fusengbuwa leadership has nevertheless maintained that its nomination exercise was lawful and peaceful.
Professor Fassy Yusuf said earlier this month that the state government lacked the legal authority to suspend the process and disclosed that the ruling house was preparing to challenge the government’s action in court.
The litigation also follows an earlier court challenge involving Fuji musician Wasiu Olasunkanmi Ayinde, popularly known as KWAM 1.
Ayinde, who is associated with the Fidipote Ruling House, had challenged aspects of the succession process and questioned why the Fusengbuwa Ruling House should produce the next Awujale.
An Ogun State High Court in Ijebu-Ode dismissed his application seeking to stop the process in December 2025.
The succession dispute is unfolding against the historical importance of the Awujale institution.
Oba Adetona’s 65-year reign brought unusual continuity to the throne, and his death opened a succession process involving several recognised ruling houses, traditional authorities and state institutions.
For the Fusengbuwa Ruling House, the central issue is now whether a process it says was properly initiated and completed can be resumed from where it stopped, rather than started again.
For the Ogun State Government and the kingmakers, the court proceedings are likely to test the limits of government oversight in a traditional succession process governed by both customary arrangements and state legislation.
The suit was filed on August 21 and, according to reports, had not yet been heard by the court as of August 25, 2026.
Until the court determines the questions raised by the ruling house, the throne of the Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland remains vacant, more than a year after the death of Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona.
The case could ultimately provide an important judicial interpretation of how Ogun State’s chieftaincy law applies to the Awujale succession and how far the government can intervene once a traditional ruling house and its kingmakers have begun the statutory process.
