Four prominent leaders of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House have initiated legal proceedings against 12 family members at the Ogun State High Court in Ijebu-Ode following their alleged unlawful removal from office amidst a bitter leadership dispute.
In a writ of summons marked HCJ/167/2026 and dated 16 September 2026, the claimants are seeking ₦1 billion in general damages over unsubstantiated allegations of financial inducement and manipulation linked to the selection process for the new Awujale of Ijebuland. They are also asking the court for a perpetual injunction to bar the defendants from presenting themselves as official representatives or leaders of the royal family.
The legal action stems from an internal rift involving a breakaway faction. According to the claimants, eight of the defendants formed an illegal fact-finding panel in June to investigate claims of financial impropriety against the leadership. At an unratified meeting on 9 August, the faction presented the panel’s findings and announced the deposition of the ruling house’s core leaders.
Following this, the breakaway group issued a letter on 11 August 2026 to 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, advising them to cease all official dealings with the claimants. A subsequent letter dated 2 September 2026 informed the authorities of the appointment of Olukayode Otufale as the “Single Unified Olori-Ebi” of the house, directing all future official communications to him.
However, the claimants argued in court documents that “the said representation is false in every material particular, that no ‘general meeting’ capable of binding the entire Fusengbuwa Ruling House has been convened by lawful authority; and no valid resolution of the Ruling House, duly and lawfully constituted, has at any time removed the claimants, or any of them, or appointed the 12th defendant or any other person in their stead.”
They warned that unless the defendants are restrained, their actions will inflict “serious detriment” on the time-sensitive selection process for the vacant throne, causing irreparable harm to the royal family’s interests.
The dispute follows a 7 November 2025 resolution, which came after a state government-convened meeting in Abeokuta on 6 November 2025. That agreement merged the three separate arms of the ruling house into a single entity under a unified leadership structure.
The prestigious Awujale stool became vacant in July 2025 following the passing of Oba Sikiru Adetona at the age of 91, ending a 65-year reign. Although the nomination process in Ijebu-Ode initially produced 95 aspirants, Ogun State Government suspended the selection exercise in December 2025 over procedural concerns, before halting it entirely in January 2026 due to security reports and petitions from stakeholders.