By Ado Oyeyemi
Four leaders of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, have instituted a suit against 12 members of the family over an alleged leadership crisis and claims of financial inducement in the selection of the next Awujale of Ijebuland.
The claimants are the Chairman of the ruling house, Abdulateef Owoyemi; his deputy, Dokun Ajidagba; Vice Chairman, Prof Fassy Yusuf; and Secretary, Pastor Jeremiah Salami.
They are asking the Ogun State High Court sitting in Ijebu-Ode to award them N1bn in damages over what they described as unfounded allegations of financial inducement and other infractions against their leadership.
The claimants are also seeking an injunction restraining the defendants from presenting themselves as leaders or representatives of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House.
The suit, marked HCJ/167/2026 and dated September 16, 2026, followed an alleged move by a breakaway faction of the ruling house to remove the claimants from their positions and appoint a new family head.
The defendants include Pa Olusegun Olusoga, also known as AK Black; Ridwan Oduneye; Muyiwa Adeleye; Alhaji Taiwo Ajumo; Sikiru Adegunwa Oluwole; Kehinde Lawal; Lukman Logunleko Oludare; Abdul Onalaja; Ashiru Mufutau; Osiyemi Johnson; Adeleke Adeyemi, also known as Leke Adeyemi; and Olukayode Otufale.
The claimants said the leadership structure emerged from a meeting of the ruling house on November 7, 2025, following an earlier meeting convened by the Ogun State Government in Abeokuta on November 6, 2025.
They alleged that the meeting merged three previously separate units of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House and unanimously adopted the leadership structure headed by Owoyemi, with Ajidagba and Yusuf serving in their respective positions.
According to the claimants, the leadership subsequently took charge of the ruling house’s nomination process for the next Awujale and forwarded the list of nominees to the Awujale kingmakers led by the Ogbeni Oja of Ijebuland, Chief Sunny Kuku.
However, they alleged that a breakaway faction, involving some of the defendants, constituted a fact-finding committee in June 2026 to investigate allegations of financial inducement against the ruling house leadership.
The claimants said the faction later held a meeting on August 9, 2026, which they described as unauthorised, and purportedly announced the removal of Owoyemi, Ajidagba and Yusuf from their positions based on the committee’s report.
They further alleged that the defendants subsequently wrote to the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ganiyu Hamzat, the Chairman of Ijebu-Ode Local Government, Dare Alebiosu, and the kingmakers, notifying them of the purported removal.
The claimants also challenged a September 2 letter in which the faction allegedly announced Otufale as the “Single Unified Olori-Ebi” of the ruling house and directed that future correspondence concerning the family should be channelled through him.
The four leaders maintained that no properly constituted general meeting of the ruling house had removed them or appointed anyone to replace them.
They argued that the alleged actions could disrupt the ongoing process for selecting the next Awujale, which they described as time-sensitive and one in which the ruling house had a substantial interest.
Among other reliefs, the claimants are asking the court to declare them the duly recognised principal officers of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House and invalidate the alleged removal and appointment of Otufale as Olori-Ebi.
They are also seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants and anyone acting through them from presenting themselves or any other person as the principal officers of the ruling house.
The claimants further demanded N1bn in general damages over what they said was injury to their reputation, standing and offices as a result of the defendants’ alleged actions.
The latest suit is coming amid an existing legal battle over the process for selecting the next Awujale.
Owoyemi, Ajidagba and Yusuf had earlier sued Governor Abiodun, the Awujale kingmakers and other parties, seeking an order compelling the completion of the selection process.
The suit, marked HCJ/149/2026 and filed on August 21, 2026, was recently returned by a vacation judge, Justice A.A. Omoniyi, to the administrative judge for reassignment.
Omoniyi adjourned the matter until September 23, 2026, explaining that he was due to proceed on annual vacation and might not resume until January 2027.
The Awujale stool became vacant in July 2025 following the death of Oba Sikiru Adetona at the age of 91, after 65 years on the throne.
The Ogun State Government had earlier suspended the selection process, citing petitions from security agencies and stakeholders.
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Before the suspension, 95 aspirants, comprising 94 princes and one princess, had emerged from the Fusengbuwa Ruling House nomination exercise held in Ijebu-Ode in December 2025.
