Leadership Crisis Rocks Fusengbuwa Ruling House in Ijebu Land
A leadership crisis has engulfed the Fusengbuwa ruling house in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, with three royal families dragging the state government and former Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) President, Otunba Abdulateef Owoyemi, to court over the disputed leadership.
The royal families, represented by Adedokun Ajidagba, Adeleke Adeyemi, and Ademola Sonaya, are seeking a court order to restrain Owoyemi from parading himself as the head (Olori Ebi) of the Fusengbuwa ruling house. They claim Owoyemi lacks ancestral ties to the Ile-Nla compound in Agunsebi, the historic family house of Fusengbuwa.
The dispute centers on Owoyemi’s legitimacy as the head of the Fusengbuwa ruling house. Ajidagba asserts that Owoyemi hails from Ikoro-Ekiti, not Ijebu-Ode, and was not appointed by the eight recognized branches of the ruling house.
In contrast, Owoyemi insists he is the legitimate head, citing a 2024 Ibadan Court of Appeal judgment that ruled in his favor.
The Court of Appeal judgment, delivered on November 28, 2024, resolved seven issues in Owoyemi’s favor, affirming his leadership of the ruling house since 2013. Owoyemi claims that the other part of the ruling house, formerly led by Dr. Kunle Hassan, submitted to the court’s decision on August 31, 2025, affirming his leadership.
The court has yet to fix a date for the hearing of the suit. The outcome will determine the rightful leader of the Fusengbuwa ruling house, which is next in line to produce the Awujale and paramount ruler of Ijebu land after the demise of 91-year-old Oba Sikiru Adetona.
The Fusengbuwa ruling house’s leadership crisis has significant implications for the Ijebu kingdom, with potential repercussions on the selection process for the next Awujale. Owoyemi has urged members of the ruling house to cooperate with the leadership to ensure a smooth transition.
