The Chairman of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House, Otunba Abdulateef Owoyemi; his deputy and vice chairman, Otunba Dokun Ajidagba and Prof Fassy Yusuf, and the Secretary, Pastor Jeremiah Salami, have dragged 12 other members of the family before the Ogun State High Court sitting in Ijebu-Ode over their purported removal from office.
The claimants in the suit are challenging allegations of financial inducement and manipulation in the selection process for the new Awujale of Ijebuland
The four ruling house leaders, on behalf of themselves and the family, are asking the court to award N1 billion in damages against the 12 defendants for allegedly making unfounded allegations of financial inducement and other infractions against them
They are also seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from parading themselves as the leaders or representatives of the royal house
This was contained in a writ of summons marked HCJ/167/2026, dated September 16, 2026, and made available to journalists on Sunday
Those sued include Pa Olusegun Olusoga, also known as “AK Black”; Ridwan Oduneye; Muyiwa Adeleye; Alhaji Taiwo Ajumo; Sikiru Adegunwa Oluwole; Hon Kehinde Lawal; Lukman Logunleko Oludare; Prince Abdul Onalaja; Ashiru Mufutau; Prince (Barr.) Osiyemi Johnson; Prince Adeleke Adeyemi, also known as “Leke Adeyemi”; and Otunba Olukayode Otufale.
The claimants said that, following a resolution reached at a meeting of the ruling house on November 7, 2025, after an earlier meeting convened by the Ogun State Government at the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, on November 6, 2025, the three separate units of the ruling house, headed respectively by Owoyemi, Ajidagba and Yusuf, were formally merged into one ruling house
They said the meeting unanimously adopted the leadership structure led by the trio
According to the claimants, the leadership of the ruling house, led by Owoyemi, a former National President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, with the support of Ajidagba and Yusuf, had, on behalf of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House, been handling the nomination of the next Awujale from the family
They said the leadership subsequently forwarded the list of nominated candidates to the Awujale Kingmakers, led by the Ogbeni Oja of Ijebuland, Chief Olorogun Dr Sunny Kuku.
The claimants alleged that a breakaway unit of the family, including eight of the defendants, sometime in June, formed what they described as an illegal fact-finding committee to investigate allegations of unfounded and baseless financial inducement against the leadership of the ruling house
They further stated that, at another meeting held on August 9, which they said was not ratified by the ruling house, the breakaway unit announced the submission of its fact-finding committee report and, based on the report, purportedly remove Owoyemi, Ajidagba and Yusuf as leaders of the family
The defendants were also alleged to have written a letter dated August 11, 2026, to Governor Dapo Abiodun; the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon Ganiyu Hamzat; the Chairman of Ijebu-Ode Local Government, Dare Alebiosu; the kingmakers; and others, notifying them of the purported removal of the ruling house leadership and urging them not to deal with the claimants on behalf of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House
The breakaway faction was also said to have, in a letter dated September 2, 2026, addressed to Governor Abiodun, the kingmakers, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, among others, announced the appointment of Otunba Olukayode Otufale as the “Single Unified Olori-Ebi” of the ruling house and directed that all future correspondence relating to the ruling house be channelled to him
The claimants, however, averred 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 further averred that unless restrained by the court, the defendants would continue to hold themselves out to the state government, the kingmakers, the Ijebu-Ode Local Government and the general public as the family head and principal officers of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House
They said this would cause irreparable prejudice to the claimants and the entire membership of the ruling house, as well as “serious detriment” to the pending and time-sensitive process for the selection of the next Awujale of Ijebuland, in which the ruling house has a substantial interest
The four leaders therefore urged the court to grant, among others, the following reliefs “A declaration that the 1st Claimant is the duly recognized Olori-Ebi and Chairman, the 2nd Claimant the Deputy Chairman, the 3rd Claimant the Vice Chairman, and the 4th Claimant the General Secretary, of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House, Ijebu-Ode, pursuant to the Resolution of the Ruling House dated 7th November, 2025, and that they remain validly in their said respective offices
“A declaration that neither the purported ‘Fact-Finding Committee’ constituted at the meetings of 7th and 25th June, 2026, nor the gathering(s) of 9th August, 2026 and 2nd September, 2026, nor any of the Defendants, was or is competent, under the native law and custom, tradition, or extant governing Resolution of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House, to remove, suspend, query, discipline, or purport to replace any of the Claimants from or in their respective offices»
“A declaration that the purported removal of the Claimants, or any of them, from their respective offices as contained in and evidenced by the letter dated 11th August, 2026 titled ‘Notification of Removal from Office as Olori-Ebi and Chairman of Fusegbuwa Ruling House,’ and all resolutions, meetings and proceedings purportedly leading thereto is unconstitutional, unlawful, null, void and of no effect»
“A declaration that the purported appointment of the 12th Defendant, Otunba Olukayode Otufale, or of any other person whomsoever, as ‘Single Unified Olori-Ebi’ or as holder of any principal office of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House as contained in and evidenced by the letter dated 2nd September, 2026 is unlawful, null, void and of no effect whatsoever”»
They also asked the court for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, whether by themselves, their agents, servants, privies, associates, or any person howsoever described claiming through or under them, from parading, describing or holding out themselves, the 12th Defendant, or any other person, as the Olori-Ebi, Chairman, Deputy Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary or any principal officer of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House
Among other reliefs, the claimants also asked the court to award N1 billion in general damages against the defendants for the injury allegedly occasioned to the reputation, standing and offices of the claimants collectively by the acts pleaded above
The claimants stated that the damages sought were “without prejudice to, and exclusive of, any personal claim for damages by the 3rd Claimant in Suit No HCJ/153/2026.”
The ruling house had dragged Governor Dapo Abiodun, the Awujale kingmakers and five others, including the Chairman of Ijebu-Ode Local Government, Dare Alebiosu, before the High Court sitting in Ijebu-Ode, seeking orders compelling the completion of the process for the selection of the next Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland
The suit, numbered HCJ/149/2026 and dated August 21, 2026, was filed by Otunba Owoyemi, chairman of the ruling house; Otunba Adedokun Ajidagba, deputy chairman; and Prof Chief Fassy Yusuf, vice chairman of the royal house.
A vacation judge, Justice A A. Omoniyi of Court 3, Ogun State High Court, sitting in Ijebu-Ode, had recently gave an interim ruling returning the suit filed by the ruling house against Gov Abiodun, the nine kingmakers and others to the administrative judge for reassignment.
Justice Omoniyi said he would be embarking on his annual vacation within the next one week and might not return to duty until January 2027
He said he was aware of the urgency of the suit, numbered HCJ/149/2026 and filed on August 21, 2026, but was constrained by time, having only one week left before embarking on his annual vacation
Omoniyi subsequently adjourned the next hearing date to this Wednesday, September 23, 2026
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 government halted the selection process in January 2026, citing petitions from security agencies and stakeholders, following an earlier suspension over procedural concerns in December 2025
A total of 95 aspirants — 94 princes and one princess — had emerged from the ruling house nomination process held in Ijebu-Ode in December before the government halted the selection process