More than a year after Ijebuland’s longest-reigning Awujale died, the family next in line for the throne has closed ranks, vowing to hold its ground in a succession process stalled by legal disputes and political interference.
At an enlarged gathering of princes and princesses held over the weekend at Ile Nla, the ancestral seat of the ruling house in Ijebu-Ode, leaders of the Fusengbuwa family delivered a pointed message: the house is unified, its resolve is intact, and it intends to see through a lawsuit aimed at forcing the conclusion of a selection process that has stalled since shortly after it began.
The meeting, convened to update family members on the state of the succession dispute, was jointly presided over by three senior figures in the ruling house: Otunba Abdulateef Adebayo Owoyemi, its Chairman and Head; Otunba Adedokun Ajidagba, the Deputy Chairman; and Fassy Yusuf, who serves as Vice Chairman.
Together, they briefed attendees on both the roots of the delay and the legal strategy now being pursued to overcome it.
The vacancy at the heart of the dispute dates back to July 2025, when Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, known by his royal appellation Ogbagba II, died at the age of 91.
His passing closed a remarkable chapter in Yoruba traditional governance: Adetona had ascended the throne on April 2, 1960, at just 25 years old, and went on to rule for 65 years, becoming one of Nigeria’s most enduring and recognizable traditional rulers.
He is especially remembered for transforming the Ojude Oba festival from a local celebration into an event of national and international renown.
Succession to the Awujale stool does not fall to a single family in perpetuity. Under a Customary Law Declaration dating to 1957, the crown rotates among four recognized ruling houses: Gbelegbuwa, Anikinaiya (the house of the late Oba Adetona), Fusengbuwa, and Fidipote, each taking its turn as the throne becomes vacant.
By that rotational order, Fusengbuwa now stands next in line, a position it has invoked as the basis of its legal and moral claim to produce Ijebuland’s next monarch.
The ruling house did put forward candidates when the process opened, but it soon stalled: the Ogun State Government suspended proceedings after a wave of procedural objections, and petitions were lodged, leaving the stool without an occupant for well over a year.
Frustrated by the impasse, the Fusengbuwa leadership under Owoyemi’s direction took the dispute to the Ogun State High Court in Ijebu-Ode, filing suit against Governor Dapo Abiodun and a lengthy list of co-defendants.
Named alongside the governor are Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Oluwasina Ogungbade (SAN), the Ogun State Executive Council, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Ganiyu Hamzat, the Chairman of Ijebu-Ode Local Government Dare Alebiosu, the local government secretary, and members of the Awujale Afobaje council of kingmakers, including Olorogun Sonny Kuku and Chief Rasheed Adesanya.
The suit does not ask the court to hand the crown to any particular candidate outright; rather, it seeks orders compelling the state and the kingmakers to complete the selection process the ruling house says has been unlawfully obstructed.
Briefing reporters after Saturday’s meeting, Owoyemi a former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, framed the turnout, which drew princes and princesses from Lagos and beyond, as proof of the family’s cohesion at a delicate moment.
He said members had been fully briefed on why the process had stalled and on the legal steps taken in response, and that those in attendance had thrown their support behind the leadership’s decisions.
His tone sharpened, however, when addressing what he characterized as deliberate sabotage. Owoyemi alleged that unnamed parties were actively working to undermine the ruling house’s eligibility to present a candidate, framing the fight as one against forces determined to see the family disqualified rather than simply outmanoeuvred through legitimate process.
Leaders used the occasion to call for discipline within the ranks, urging family members to remain calm and focused as litigation unfolds rather than allowing the prolonged delay to fracture unity at a critical juncture.
With the matter now before the Ogun State High Court, the timeline for resolving the vacancy and for Ijebuland to finally install a successor to Oba Adetona remains uncertain.
For a kingdom whose recent history was defined by six and a half decades of continuity under a single monarch, the coming months of litigation and political maneuvering mark an unfamiliar and closely watched test of its traditional institutions.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
The Fusengbuwa ruling house’s succession fight boils down to one thing: a rotational birthright being tested by procedural obstruction.
Under Ijebuland’s 1957 customary law, the crown was due to pass to Fusengbuwa after Oba Adetona’s 65-year reign ended in 2025, yet petitions and government intervention have kept the stool empty for over a year.
Rather than let the delay fracture the family or erode its claim, Fusengbuwa leaders have taken the fight to court, betting that legal pressure, not political maneuvering,g will restore the process to its rightful, customary course.
The outcome will determine not just who becomes the next Awujale, but whether Ijebuland’s centuries-old succession tradition can withstand modern political interference.
