The leadership crisis rocking the Fusengbuwa Ruling House of Ijebuland has taken a new dimension as four principal officers of the family have approached the Ogun State High Court, Ijebu-Ode, seeking legal protection against what they described as their purported removal from office.
The claimants are the Chairman and Olori-Ebi of the ruling house, Otunba Abdulateef Owoyemi; Deputy Chairman, Otunba Dokun Ajidagba; Vice Chairman, Prof. Fassy Yusuf; and Secretary, Pastor Jeremiah Salami.
They instituted the suit against 12 members of the family over alleged attempts to remove them and interfere with the ongoing process for the selection of a new Awujale of Ijebuland.
The suit, filed by the chamber of Olusegun Otayemi and marked HCJ/167/2026, dated September 16, 2026, is also challenging allegations of financial inducement and manipulation allegedly levelled against the claimants in connection with the selection process.
The four leaders are seeking, among other reliefs, N1 billion in general damages against the defendants for what they described as unfounded allegations capable of damaging their reputation and standing within the ruling house.
They are also asking the court for a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from parading themselves or any other person as leaders or representatives of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House.
The defendants listed in the suit are 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 told the court that the leadership structure currently being challenged by some members of the family was established following a resolution reached at a meeting of the ruling house on November 7, 2025.
They submitted that the meeting followed an earlier meeting convened by the Ogun State Government at the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, on November 6, 2025, and that three separate units of the ruling house were subsequently merged into one, with Owoyemi, Ajidagba and Yusuf unanimously recognised as the principal leaders.
The claimants further stated that the leadership, headed by Owoyemi, a former National President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, subsequently handled the nomination of candidates for the vacant Awujale stool on behalf of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House.
They said the list of nominated candidates was thereafter forwarded to the Awujale Kingmakers, led by the Ogbeni Oja of Ijebuland, Chief Olorogun Dr Sunny Kuku.
However, the claimants alleged that a breakaway group within the family, including eight of the defendants, constituted what they described as an illegal fact-finding committee in June 2026 to investigate allegations of financial inducement against the leadership of the ruling house.
They said the group subsequently held another meeting on August 9, which they claimed was not authorised or ratified by the ruling house.
According to the claimants, the group announced the submission of the fact-finding committee’s report at the meeting and, relying on the report, purportedly removed Owoyemi, Ajidagba and Yusuf from their positions.
The claimants further alleged that the defendants, in a letter dated August 11, 2026, notified 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 of their purported removal.
They alleged that the defendants also urged the state government and other stakeholders not to deal with them as representatives of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House.
The claimants said the development was followed by another letter dated September 2, 2026, in which the group announced the appointment of Otunba Olukayode Otufale as the “Single Unified Olori-Ebi” of the ruling house.
They said the letter further directed that all future correspondence relating to the ruling house should be channelled through Otufale.
But the claimants rejected the development, describing the purported changes as invalid.
They averred that no lawful general meeting capable of binding the entire ruling house had been convened to remove them from office.
They also maintained that no valid resolution of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House had been passed to remove any of them or appoint another person in their stead.