The battle to determine the next Awujale of Ijebuland has moved to the Ogun State High Court, with the Fusengbuwa Ruling House asking the court to compel the kingmakers to resume and complete the stalled process of selecting a new monarch.
The legal action has added a new dimension to the succession crisis that followed the death of the revered Awujale, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, on July 13, 2025.
In the suit marked HCJ/149/2026, filed at the High Court of Justice, Ijebu Ode Judicial Division, the ruling house is challenging what it described as an unlawful halt to the selection process, including the alleged lockdown of the Awujale Palace by the police on the instructions of the Ogun State government.
The claimants want the court to declare that neither the government nor its agencies had the legal authority to stop the process after it had commenced in accordance with the state’s chieftaincy law.
The dispute centres on what happened after the Fusengbuwa Ruling House was formally notified that it was its turn to produce a candidate for the vacant stool.
Ijebu Ode Local Government conveyed the notification on December 2, 2025, pursuant to the rotational arrangement under the Obas and Chiefs’ Law of Ogun State 2021.
The ruling house then moved to fulfil its part of the process.
On January 12, 2026, it held a nomination meeting within the 14 days prescribed by Section 16(1)(b) of the law, producing a list of 95 princes and princesses.
That list was forwarded seven days later, on January 19, to the nine-member Awujale Afobaje Kingmakers Council, whose responsibility was to proceed to the next stage and select a candidate.
But the process, according to the claimants, was stopped almost immediately.
They alleged that shortly after the list reached the kingmakers, police officers entered the Awujale Palace after midnight on January 20 and prevented the council from meeting to select its preferred candidate.
The intervention was followed by a letter from the local government citing security reports and allegations of bribery and financial inducement as reasons for suspending the process.
The ruling house has rejected the allegations, insisting that no evidence or formal petition substantiating them was presented.
It further claimed that investigations by the police and the Department of State Services failed to establish any wrongdoing.
The dispute subsequently drew in senior government officials.
Named as defendants are the Ijebu Ode Local Government Executive Chairman, Hon. Dare Alebiosu, who approved the commencement of the process on January 6; the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Ganiyu Hamzat; Governor Dapo Abiodun; the Attorney-General of Ogun State; and the Ogun State Executive Council.
The claimants alleged that Hamzat petitioned the Eleweeran Police Station in Abeokuta on February 2, 2026, requesting that members of the kingmakers’ council and principal officers of the ruling house be invited for questioning.
For the Fusengbuwa Ruling House, the central issue is whether a process recognised by law can simply be halted after one stage has been completed.
It is asking the court to declare that its nomination process was validly conducted and that the kingmakers are legally bound under Sections 16(1)(e)-(f) of the law to select a candidate from the 95 names submitted to them.
The ruling house also argues that the selected name must subsequently be forwarded to the Ogun State Executive Council, which it says is required under Section 22 of the law to act on the selection.
Beyond declarations, the claimants are seeking a mandatory order directing the kingmakers to reconvene within seven days of judgment and conclude the selection process.
They are also asking the court to restrain the Ogun State government and security agencies from further interfering with the process.
Counsel to the claimants, led by Otunba Olusegun Otayemi, argued that the chieftaincy law establishes a clear sequence of nomination, selection and approval, and that the authorities must follow the procedure once it has been activated.
The legal team cited 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 was filed and sworn to on August 21, 2026, but has yet to come up for hearing.
The defendants’ responses had not been made public as of Monday.
