From left, the Deputy Chairman of Fusengbuwa ruling house, Otunba Dokun Ajidagba, the Chairman of the ruling house, Otunba Abdulateef Owoyemi and the Vice Chairman, Prof Fassy Yusuf at a recent media engagement.

The Chairman of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House, Otunba Abdulateef Owoyemi; his deputy, Otunba Dokun Ajidagba; the vice chairman, 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 are also challenging allegations of financial inducement and manipulation in the selection process for the next Awujale of Ijebuland.

The four leaders, on behalf of themselves and the family, are asking the court to award N1bn 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 leaders or representatives of the ruling house.

The suit, marked HCJ/167/2026, was filed on 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 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, led by Owoyemi, a former National President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, with the support of Ajidagba and Yusuf, subsequently handled the nomination of the next Awujale on behalf of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House.

They said the leadership 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, formed what they described as an illegal fact-finding committee in June to investigate allegations of financial inducement against the ruling house leadership.

They further alleged 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 its findings, purportedly removed 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 and the commissioner, 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.

The claimants said this would cause irreparable prejudice to them 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.

Among the reliefs sought, the claimants are asking the court to declare that Owoyemi is the duly recognised Olori-Ebi and Chairman; Ajidagba, the Deputy Chairman; Yusuf, the Vice Chairman; and Salami, the General Secretary of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House, pursuant to the resolution of the ruling house dated November 7, 2025.

They are also asking the court to declare that neither the purported fact-finding committee nor the meetings held on August 9 and September 2, 2026, or any of the defendants, was competent under the native law and custom, tradition or governing resolution of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House to remove, suspend, query, discipline or replace any of the claimants.

The claimants are further seeking a declaration that their purported removal from office, as contained in the letter dated August 11, 2026, and the resolutions and proceedings purportedly leading to it, are unconstitutional, unlawful, null, void and of no effect.

They also want the court to declare the purported appointment of Otufale or any other person as “Single Unified Olori-Ebi” or holder of any principal office of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House unlawful, null and void.

The claimants are seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their agents, servants, privies, associates or anyone claiming through them from parading or holding out themselves, Otufale or any other person as the Olori-Ebi, Chairman, Deputy Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary or any principal officer of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House.

They are also seeking N1bn in general damages for the alleged injury to their reputation, standing and offices.

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 latest suit comes against the backdrop of an earlier legal action by the ruling house against Governor Abiodun, the Awujale kingmakers and five others, including the Chairman of Ijebu-Ode Local Government, Dare Alebiosu, over the selection of the next Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland.

The earlier suit, marked HCJ/149/2026 and filed on August 21, 2026, was instituted by Owoyemi, Ajidagba and Yusuf.

A vacation judge, Justice A.A. Omoniyi of Court 3, Ogun State High Court, sitting in Ijebu-Ode, recently directed that the suit be returned to the administrative judge for reassignment, citing his impending annual vacation.

Omoniyi said he was aware of the urgency of the matter but was constrained by time, having only one week left before proceeding on vacation. He subsequently adjourned the case to 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 Ogun State 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.