The Ogun State High Court sitting in Ijebu-Ode has warned parties involved in the legal battle over the succession to the Awujale stool against taking any action capable of interfering with or altering the existing situation in the disputed selection process.
Justice A. A. Omoniyi of Court 3 gave the warning on Wednesday while entertaining the suit filed by the Fusengbuwa Ruling House against the Ogun State Government, the nine kingmakers and other defendants.
The warning followed a request by counsel to the Fusengbuwa Ruling House, Otunba Olusegun Otayemi, urging the court to restrain the parties from taking any step capable of tampering with the status quo pending the determination of the case.
Otayemi told the court that an order was necessary to ensure that none of the parties took steps that could affect the circumstances surrounding the disputed succession process while the matter remained pending.
Responding, Justice Omoniyi said there was no basis at that stage to assume that either party would embark on such an action.
The judge, however, made it clear that any party that proceeded in a manner contrary to the court’s directives would be stopped and required to return to the position it occupied before taking such action.
The court’s position effectively placed the parties on notice that the judicial process must be respected and that no party should take steps capable of prejudicing the subject matter of the suit.
Counsel representing the kingmakers, Asiwaju Kunle Kalejaiye, SAN, also cautioned the parties against conduct that could amount to disobedience of an injunction.
Kalejaiye referred to the principle established in Ojukwu v. Governor of Lagos State, stressing that parties to a pending case are expected to respect the court process and refrain from actions that could defeat or undermine the authority of the court.
The legal battle centres on the process for selecting a successor to the late Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, who died in July 2025 at the age of 91 after 65 years on the throne.
The Fusengbuwa Ruling House subsequently approached the Ogun State High Court, challenging the stoppage of the succession process after it had completed its internal nomination exercise.
The ruling house maintains that it fulfilled its statutory responsibility by convening its meeting and completing the nomination process within the period prescribed by law.
The exercise reportedly produced 95 aspirants, comprising 94 princes and one princess, before the Ogun State Government halted further proceedings.
The state government had earlier suspended the process in December 2025, citing procedural concerns, before stopping further proceedings in January 2026 following petitions from security agencies and other stakeholders.
In the suit filed on August 21, 2026, the Fusengbuwa Ruling House is asking the court to determine whether the government had the legal authority to halt or interfere with the selection process.
It is also seeking a determination of whether the provisions of the Ogun State Obas and Chiefs Law 2021 permit the government to stop the nomination and selection process under any guise.
Among its other prayers, the ruling house is asking the court to order the completion of the process for the selection of the next Awujale.
At Wednesday’s proceedings, Justice Omoniyi, who is due to proceed on annual vacation, returned the case file to the administrative judge for reassignment.
The matter was subsequently adjourned until September 23, 2026, for mention.
