The Chairman of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House, Otunba Abdulateef Owoyemi, has said the family was compelled to approach the Ogun State High Court over the stalled selection of the next Awujale because it could no longer afford to wait indefinitely for the process to be completed.
Owoyemi spoke with Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese Ijebu, after Wednesday’s proceedings in the suit filed by the Fusengbuwa Ruling House against Governor Dapo Abiodun, the Awujale kingmakers and other stakeholders over the stoppage of the selection process.
The vacation judge, Justice A. A. Omoniyi, had returned the case file to the administrative judge for reassignment, saying he would be proceeding on his annual vacation within the next one week and might not return to duty until January 2027.
Justice Omoniyi said he was aware of the urgency of the suit, numbered HCJ/149/2026 and filed on August 21, 2026, but said the limited time available to him made it difficult to proceed with the matter before his vacation.
The judge said the circumstances of the case, the interest of justice and the need for the matter to progress compelled him to return the file to the administrative judge for reassignment to another judge returning from vacation duty, or for the administrative judge to decide whether he should continue with the matter.
The case was adjourned to September 23, 2026, for further hearing.
Reacting to the development, Owoyemi said the ruling house had already waited for seven months despite completing its own part of the selection process within the period prescribed by law.
He said the family had 14 days under the law to carry out its responsibility and completed the process within 10 days before submitting the necessary papers to the kingmakers, who, according to him, had seven days to complete the next stage.
“We waited for 7 months. We had only 14 days by the law to do what we have done. And we did it within 10 days and immediately we delivered the papers to the kingmakers they only had 7 days to finish and appoint an Awujale.
“From nowhere, a letter came asking that the whole thing stop because of what they call petitions which we never saw, we don’t know who wrote the petitions, the security report which we have never seen a copy of till today’s date.
“And we’ve been waiting for 7 months! The Imam, the Muslims of Ijebuland, the Christians of Ijebuland, have tried all they could in the whole world to have access to the governor so that this matter can move forward, but nothing has happened! We can’t wait forever! And we have to approach the court for intervention”.
Earlier, counsel to the Fusengbuwa Ruling House, Otunba Olusegun Otayemi, told the court that all 15 defendants had been duly served and that the family was ready to proceed with the suit.
Speaking after the proceedings, Otayemi said the ruling house went to court because the selection process had been initiated before it was stopped, which he said was not permitted under the law.
He said delays could occur where there were legitimate reasons, but argued that the selection process should not be deliberately stopped.
“We’ve brought an action, essentially, because there was a stoppage of selection process after it has been initiated. And the law, as we know it, does not permit of a deliberate stoppage.
“Yes, if there are things that cause delays here and there, that can be excused, but not a deliberate, orchestrated stoppage, that’s why we are in court.
“This matter is something that has some urgency in it. Ijebu Ode cannot remain kingless for so long. And that’s one of the reasons why we are in court”.
On his part, Asiwaju Kunle Kalejaiye, SAN, counsel representing the 7th to 15th defendants, including the kingmakers, said the position of his clients was that the Afobajes should be allowed to carry out their statutory responsibilities while the government performs its own duties.
Kalejaiye said the appointment of recognised chiefs was governed by the Chiefs Law and subject to specific timelines.
“The truth of the matter is that the Afobajes that I represent have been brought to court by the Fusengbuwa ruling house saying that they want the court to order the government to leave their big feet from the selection process which has been commenced. So, they’re asking for an order for the Afobajes to do their job and for the government to go and do their job.
“And I think it’s a very simple matter, really. Because I think the issue of the appointment of any recognized chief is governed by the chief’s law. And these are time calibrated.
“You know, 7 days, 14 days, 21 days. So, I think, well, from the point of view of the Afobajes they want to do their job and leave the Jebus and Awujale”.
On the court’s decision to return the file to the administrative judge, Kalejaiye said the matter would either be reassigned or the administrative judge could direct that Justice Omoniyi continue with it when he returns.
He said, “Well, the position is that the court said that it’s a vacation judge and as such would not want to start the matter now. We’ll return the file back to the admin judge who will either assign it to herself or give it to another judge to do. But in the event that the admin judge says he should continue they will come back on the 23rd of September.”
The ruling house had dragged Governor 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 Owoyemi, chairman of the ruling house; Otunba Adedokun Ajidagba, deputy chairman; and Prof. Chief Fassy Yusuf, vice chairman of the royal house.
Also joined in the suit were the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of the state, Mr Oluwasina Ogungbade, SAN; the Ogun State Executive Council; the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ganiyu Hamzat; and the Secretary of Ijebu-Ode Local Government.
Others listed as defendants are members of the Awujale Afobaje/Kingmakers Council, including Olorogun Sonny Kuku, Chief Rasheed Adesanya, Chief Oluwaranti Lekan Osifeso, Chief Jimi Lawal, Chief Abimbola Okenla, Chief Kunle Ogunade, Chief Agboola Alausa, Chief Adebisi Adaran and Chief Ayotunde Ola Odulaja.
The claimants are asking the court to determine whether the government had the legal power to order or facilitate the alleged entry into and locking of the Awujale Palace on January 20, 2026, “to physically prevent” the kingmakers from convening and concluding their statutory selection process for the new Awujale.
They also want the court to determine whether the Obas and Chiefs Law permits the state government to halt the nomination or selection process for the Awujale “under any guise.”
The claimants are further seeking a determination that, having convened a meeting of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House and completed its internal nomination process within the period prescribed by law, the family had discharged its statutory responsibility under Section 16 of the Obas and Chiefs Law of Ogun State 2021.
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 Ogun State Government had 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.
