The Fusengbuwa Ruling House has explained why it resorted to legal action over the stalled selection of the next Awujale of Ijebuland, saying it could no longer continue waiting indefinitely for the process to resume.
Chairman of the ruling house, Otunba Abdulateef Owoyemi, said the family went to the Ogun State High Court after waiting for seven months despite completing its own part of the selection process within the period prescribed by law.
Owoyemi spoke after Wednesday’s proceedings in the suit filed by the ruling house against Governor Dapo Abiodun, the Awujale kingmakers and other stakeholders.
According to him, the ruling house was given 14 days to conduct its internal nomination process but completed the exercise in 10 days before submitting the required documents to the kingmakers.
He said the kingmakers, in turn, had seven days to complete the next stage of the process, but the process was subsequently stopped.
“We waited for seven months. We had only 14 days by the law to do what we have done. And we did it within 10 days and immediately we delivered the papers to the kingmakers they only had seven days to finish and appoint an Awujale.”
Owoyemi said the ruling house was particularly concerned because the suspension was communicated through a letter citing petitions and a security report that, according to him, had never been made available to the family.
“From nowhere, a letter came asking that the whole thing stop because of what they call petitions which we never saw, we don’t know who wrote the petitions, the security report which we have never seen a copy of till today’s date,” he said.
He said the family and stakeholders in Ijebuland had also made efforts to engage the governor over the matter without success.
“The Imam, the Muslims of Ijebuland, the Christians of Ijebuland, have tried all they could in the whole world to have access to the governor so that this matter can move forward, but nothing has happened,” Owoyemi said.
“We can’t wait forever! And we have to approach the court for intervention.”
‘Selection cannot be deliberately stopped’
Counsel to the ruling house, Otunba Olusegun Otayemi, said the legal action was not initially about challenging the selection process but about preventing what he described as its deliberate stoppage after it had already commenced.
Otayemi said the law might accommodate delays arising from legitimate circumstances but, in his view, did not permit an orchestrated halt to the process.
“We’ve brought an action, essentially, because there was a stoppage of selection process after it has been initiated. And the law, as we know it, does not permit of a deliberate stoppage,” he said.
He added that the prolonged vacancy of the traditional stool was another reason the ruling house considered the matter urgent.
“Ijebu Ode cannot remain kingless for so long. And that’s one of the reasons why we are in court,” the lawyer said.
Counsel representing the seventh to 15th defendants, including the kingmakers, Asiwaju Kunle Kalejaiye, SAN, said his clients’ position was that the Afobajes should be allowed to perform their statutory responsibilities while the government carries out its own duties.
Kalejaiye said the appointment of recognised chiefs was regulated by the Chiefs Law and subject to specific timelines.
Court delays substantive hearing
Despite the ruling house’s argument over the urgency of the matter, Wednesday’s proceedings did not result in a substantive hearing.
The vacation judge, Justice A. A. Omoniyi, returned the case file to the administrative judge for reassignment.
Justice Omoniyi said he was aware of the urgency of suit number HCJ/149/2026, filed on August 21, 2026, but explained that his impending annual vacation made it difficult for him to commence the matter before his departure.
The judge said the administrative judge could reassign the case to another judge returning from vacation duty or decide that he should continue with it when he returns.
The matter was consequently adjourned to September 23, 2026, for further hearing.
The Fusengbuwa Ruling House had sued the governor, the Ogun State Government, the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ijebu-Ode Local Government officials and members of the Awujale Afobaje/Kingmakers Council.
The family is asking the court to determine, among other issues, whether the state government had the legal authority to halt the Awujale nomination or selection process and whether it could order or facilitate the alleged locking of the Awujale Palace on January 20, 2026, to prevent the kingmakers from completing their statutory duties.
The Awujale stool became vacant in July 2025 following the death of Oba Sikiru Adetona, who reigned for 65 years and died at 91.
The December 2025 nomination exercise conducted by the Fusengbuwa Ruling House produced 95 aspirants—94 princes and one princess—before the process was halted by the state government in January 2026.
The government had cited petitions from security agencies and stakeholders for the latest suspension, following an earlier stoppage in December 2025 over procedural concerns.
