Awujale Stool: Fusengbuwa Ruling House Battles Leadership Dispute in Court

The Adeberu, Olufadi, and Ayora/Tunwase families of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House, Ile Nla, Agunsebi, Ijebu-Ode, have filed a suit against the Ogun State Government, former ICAN President Abdulateef Owoyemi, Eye Foundation founder Dr. Kunle Hassan, and two others, over a leadership tussle within the royal family.

In the suit, filed on September 17 at the Ogun State High Court in Ijebu-Ode and made public yesterday, family representatives Adedokun Ajidagba, Adeleke Adeyemi, and Ademola Sonaya asked the court to restrain Owoyemi from parading himself as the Olori Ebi (head) of the Fusengbuwa ruling house.

The Fusengbuwa ruling house is next in line to produce the Awujale of Ijebuland following the death of Oba Sikiru Adetona on July 13, 2025, after a 65-year reign.

Adedokun argued in court filings that Owoyemi has no ancestral ties to Ile Nla, the historic Fusengbuwa family house, listing the house’s eight legitimate branches as Olufadi, Ayora/Tunwase, Shenowo, Okuyandewo, Oshinuga, Adekenu, Adebiyi, and Adeberu. He claimed Owoyemi hails from Ikoro-Ekiti, not Ijebu-Ode, a point he said was confirmed by the late Awujale during a 2018 court proceeding.

Adedokun further noted that his own appointment as Olori Ebi was ratified on November 23, 2023, with official communication sent to the state chieftaincy office and the late monarch. He declared himself the legitimate head of the Fusengbuwa ruling house and asked the court to prevent Owoyemi from laying claim to the position.

The court is yet to fix a hearing date.

Owoyemi, however, maintains that he remains the rightful Olori Ebi, citing a November 28, 2024 ruling of the Ibadan Court of Appeal delivered by Justice Binta Fatima Zubairu, which upheld his position. He explained that he was first appointed deputy to then family head Prince Fasasi Adeyemi in 2011 and became Olori Ebi after Adeyemi’s death in 2013.

According to him, a splinter group later named late billionaire banker and FCMB founder Otunba Subomi Balogun as family head, prompting him to seek legal redress. Although the Ijebu-Ode High Court partially ruled in his favor in 2018, it stopped short of affirming him as Olori Ebi. He later won full recognition at the appellate court.

“I remain a bonafide son of Ijebuland from Idowa Ijebu. Past attempts to distort history have been quashed by the November 2024 Court of Appeal judgment,” Owoyemi stated.

The octogenarian urged members of the ruling house to avoid division and greed, and instead cooperate for a peaceful and credible selection process for the next Awujale.

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