The succession battle over the vacant stool of the Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland has taken a legal turn, with the Fusengbuwa Ruling House dragging the Ogun State Government and the Awujale kingmakers before the Ogun State High Court in Ijebu-Ode.
The suit, marked HCJ/149/2026 and filed on August 21, 2026, seeks an order compelling the nine-member Awujale Afobaje Kingmakers Council to resume and conclude the process of selecting a successor to the late Awujale, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, who died on July 13, 2025, after a 65-year reign.
The ruling house is also challenging the alleged closure of the Awujale Palace, claiming that police officers entered the palace in January and prevented the kingmakers from meeting to proceed with the selection exercise. It is asking the court to determine whether the Ogun State Government had the legal authority to halt or interfere with the process.
According to the claimants, Ijebu-Ode Local Government notified the Fusengbuwa Ruling House on December 2, 2025, that it was its turn to produce a candidate for the vacant throne under the rotational arrangement recognised by the Ogun State Obas and Chiefs’ Law 2021.
The ruling house subsequently held its nomination meeting on January 12, 2026, within the period prescribed by law. It said 95 princes and princesses were nominated, with the resulting list submitted to the nine-member kingmakers' council on January 19 for the next stage of the selection process.
However, the claimants alleged that police officers entered the Awujale Palace after midnight on January 20, preventing the kingmakers from convening to select a candidate. They said a subsequent communication from the local government cited security reports and allegations of bribery and financial inducement as reasons for suspending the process.
The Fusengbuwa Ruling House has denied wrongdoing and argued that no evidence or formal petition substantiating the allegations was presented against it. It also claimed that investigations by the police and the Department of State Services did not establish wrongdoing by the ruling house or kingmakers.
The suit names Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwasina Ogungbade, the Ogun State Executive Council, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Ganiyu Hamzat, the Chairman and Secretary of Ijebu-Ode Local Government, as well as members of the Awujale Afobaje Kingmakers Council as defendants.
The ruling house is asking the court to declare that its nomination exercise was validly conducted and that the kingmakers are legally obligated to select a candidate from the submitted list and forward the name to the Ogun State Executive Council.
It is also seeking an order directing the kingmakers to reconvene and complete the selection process, as well as an injunction restraining the state government and security agencies from further interfering with the exercise.
The court case now adds a legal dimension to the prolonged search for a successor to the late Awujale, with the eventual outcome expected to determine how the traditional succession process proceeds.
No comments:
Post a Comment