The struggle over the vacant stool of the Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland has taken a legal turn, as the Fusengbuwa Ruling House has approached the Ogun State High Court seeking an order compelling the kingmakers to complete the process of selecting the next monarch.
The suit, filed as No. HCJ/149/2026 before the High Court of Justice, Ijebu Ode Judicial Division, and sighted by Eagle 102.5FM, Ilese Ijebu on Monday, also challenges the lockdown of the Awujale Palace, which the ruling house alleges was carried out by the police on the instructions of the Ogun State Government. The claimants are seeking declarations that the action was unlawful and that the government had no legal authority to halt the selection process.
The vacant stool followed the death of the late Awujale, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, on July 13, 2025. According to the court filings, the Ijebu Ode Local Government notified the Fusengbuwa Ruling House on December 2, 2025, that it was the family’s turn to produce a candidate in accordance with the rotational arrangement provided under the Obas and Chiefs’ Law of Ogun State 2021.
The ruling house subsequently commenced its nomination process, holding a meeting on January 12, 2026, within the 14-day window set by Section 16(1)(b) of the law, during which 95 princes and princesses were nominated. The full list was later forwarded to the nine-member Awujale Afobaje Kingmakers Council on January 19, 2026, for the next stage of the selection. The council is chaired by Olor’gun Sonny Kuku (Ogbeni Oja), and includes Chief Rasheed Adesanya (Olisa), Chief Oluwaranti Lekan Osifeso (Olootu Olowa), Chief Jimi Lawal (Olootu Ifore), Chief Abimbola Okenla (Kakanfo Awujale), Chief Kunle Ogunade (Apebi), Chief Agboola Alausa (Balogun), Chief Adebisi Adaran, also known as Gbenden (Ogbeni Odi), and Chief Ayotunde Ola Odulaja (Lapoekun and Secretary of the council).
However, the claimants alleged that less than 24 hours later, police officers entered the Awujale Palace after midnight on January 20 and prevented the kingmakers from meeting to select a preferred candidate. They said a subsequent letter from the local government cited security reports and allegations of bribery and financial inducement as reasons for suspending the process. The suit names Ijebu Ode Local Government Executive Chairman Hon. Dare Alebiosu, who had approved the commencement of the process on January 6, and the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Ganiyu Hamzat, who the claimants say later petitioned the Eleweeran Police Station in Abeokuta on February 2, 2026, to invite the kingmakers and the ruling house’s principal officers for questioning.
The Fusengbuwa Ruling House, however, maintains that no evidence or formal petition supporting the allegations was presented and claims that investigations by the police and the Department of State Services did not establish wrongdoing.
In the suit, the claimants are asking the court to declare that the nomination process was validly completed and that the kingmakers are legally bound, under Section 16(1)(e)-(f) of the law, to select a candidate from the submitted list and forward the name to the state Executive Council, which they say is in turn obligated under Section 22 to act on that selection.
They are also seeking an order directing the kingmakers to reconvene within seven days of the judgment to conclude the selection process, as well as an injunction restraining the state government and security agencies from further interfering with the process.
Counsel to the claimants, led by Otunba Olusegun Otayemi, argued that the state’s chieftaincy law establishes a sequential process of nomination, selection and approval, which must be followed once initiated. The legal team also relied on 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 suit, which was filed and sworn to on August 21, 2026, is yet to be heard by the court. Governor Dapo Abiodun is also named as a defendant, alongside the Attorney-General and the Ogun State Executive Council.
The defendants’ responses have not been made public.
