Four leaders of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House of Ijebuland have dragged 12 members of the family before the Ogun State High Court sitting in Ijebu-Ode, demanding N1 billion in damages over an alleged attempt to remove them from office and interfere with the selection of the next Awujale of Ijebuland.

The claimants are the Chairman of the ruling house, Otunba Abdulateef Owoyemi; his deputy, Otunba Dokun Ajidagba; Vice Chairman, Prof. Fassy Yusuf; and Secretary, Pastor Jeremiah Salami.

In the suit, marked HCJ/167/2026 and filed on September 16, 2026, the claimants alleged that the defendants made unfounded allegations of financial inducement and other infractions against the leadership of the ruling house in connection with the ongoing process for selecting a successor to the late Awujale, Oba Sikiru Adetona.

They are asking the court to award N1 billion in general damages over what they described as injury to their reputation, standing and offices.

They are also seeking an injunction restraining the 12 defendants from presenting themselves as leaders or representatives of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House.

The defendants include Pa Olusegun Olusoga, popularly known as “AK Black”; Ridwan Oduneye; Muyiwa Adeleye; Alhaji Taiwo Ajumo; Sikiru Adegunwa Oluwole; 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.

According to the claimants, the three separate units of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House were merged into a single ruling house following a meeting on November 7, 2025, held after an earlier meeting convened by the Ogun State Government at the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

They said the meeting unanimously adopted the leadership structure headed by Owoyemi, with Ajidagba and Yusuf serving as deputy and vice chairman respectively, while Salami became secretary.

The claimants maintained that the leadership subsequently coordinated the nomination process for the next Awujale on behalf of the ruling house and forwarded the list of nominated candidates to the kingmakers led by the Ogbeni Oja of Ijebuland, Chief Olorogun Dr Sunny Kuku.

They alleged that a breakaway faction of the family, involving eight of the defendants, later constituted an illegal fact-finding committee in June to investigate allegations of financial inducement against the ruling house leadership.

The claimants further alleged that at a meeting on August 9, which they said was not authorised or ratified by the ruling house, the breakaway faction announced the report of the fact-finding committee and purportedly removed Owoyemi, Ajidagba and Yusuf from their positions.

They also alleged that the defendants subsequently wrote to the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ganiyu Hamzat, the Chairman of Ijebu-Ode Local Government, Dare Alebiosu, and the Awujale kingmakers, informing them of the purported removal.

According to the claimants, another letter dated September 2 announced Otunba Olukayode Otufale as the “Single Unified Olori-Ebi” of the ruling house and directed that future correspondence concerning the family be channelled through him.

The claimants, however, argued that no lawful general meeting of the entire ruling house had been convened to remove them from office or appoint their replacements.

They therefore asked the court to declare their purported removal unlawful, null and void.

They also want the court to recognise Owoyemi as the duly recognised Olori-Ebi and chairman of the ruling house, Ajidagba as deputy chairman, Yusuf as vice chairman and Salami as secretary, pursuant to the November 7, 2025 resolution.

The plaintiffs further want the court to declare that neither the alleged fact-finding committee nor the meetings of August 9 and September 2 had the authority under the native law, custom, tradition or governing resolution of the ruling house to remove or replace them.

The latest suit is coming against the backdrop of another legal action instituted by Owoyemi, Ajidagba and Yusuf against Governor Abiodun, the Awujale kingmakers and other parties over the selection of the next Awujale.

The earlier suit, marked HCJ/149/2026, was filed on August 21, 2026.

A vacation judge, Justice A.A. Omoniyi, recently directed that the matter be returned to the administrative judge for reassignment, citing his impending annual vacation. The case has been adjourned to 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 subsequently halted the selection process in January 2026, citing petitions from security agencies and stakeholders.

The process had earlier been suspended in December 2025 over procedural concerns.

Before the suspension, 95 aspirants; 94 princes and one princess, had emerged from the Fusengbuwa Ruling House nomination exercise conducted in Ijebu-Ode.