Awujale: Fusengbuwa Ruling House sues 12 members over leadership tussle, demands N1bn damages

Leaders of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House in Ijebu-Ode have filed a suit against 12 members of the family before the Ogun State High Court, Ijebu-Ode, over their alleged removal as heads of the ruling house.

The claimants, Abdulateef Owoyemi, the chairman of the house, Dokun Ajidagba, his deputy, Fassy Yusuf, the vice chairman and the secretary, Jeremiah Salami, in suit number HCJ/167/2026, are seeking N1 billion damages for alleged defamation and interference with the Awujale selection process.

The defendants are Pa Olusegun Olusoga, Ridwan Oduneye, Muyiwa Adeleye, Taiwo Ajumo, Sikiru Oluwole, Kehinde Lawal, Lukman Oludare, Prince Abdul Onalaja, Ashiru Mufutau, Prince Osiyemi Johnson, Prince Adeleke Adeyemi and Otunba Olukayode Otufale.

In the writ dated September 16, 2026, the claimants said a resolution was reached on November 7, 2025, after a meeting convened by the Ogun State Government on November 6, at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, where three units of the ruling house headed by Owoyemi, Ajidagba and Yusuf were merged into one.

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They said the meeting unanimously adopted the leadership structure led by the trio, with Owoyemi, a former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, as chairman.

According to them, the leadership had since been handling the nomination of candidates for the vacant Awujale stool and had forwarded the list to the kingmakers led by the Ogbeni Oja of Ijebuland, Chief Olorogun Sunny Kuku.

The claimants alleged that a breakaway group within the family, including eight of the defendants, set up a fact-finding committee in June to investigate allegations of financial inducement against the leadership.

They further alleged that at a meeting held on August 9, which they said was not ratified by the ruling house, the group announced the report of the committee and purportedly removed Owoyemi, Ajidagba and Yusuf.

The defendants were also said to have written a letter dated August 11, 2026, to Governor Dapo Abiodun, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ganiyu Hamzat, and the kingmakers, notifying them of the removal and urging them not to deal with the claimants.

The group allegedly followed up with another letter on September 2, announcing Otunba Olukayode Otufale as the Single Unified Olori-Ebi and directing that all correspondence be channelled to him.

But the claimants insisted that no lawful general meeting of the entire ruling house removed them or appointed Otufale, describing the actions as false and invalid.

They warned that unless restrained, the defendants would continue to parade themselves as leaders of the ruling house, causing irreparable damage to the claimants and disrupting the selection process for the next Awujale.

The claimants are therefore asking the court to declare them as the duly recognised leaders of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House, to nullify their purported removal and the appointment of Otufale, and to grant a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from parading as leaders, alongside N1 billion damages.

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