Awujale succession remains blocked by legal dispute
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Leadership
The succession to the throne of the Awujale of Ijebuland remains blocked by a dispute between the Ogun State government, traditional chiefs and the Fusengbuwa ruling house. Two rival councils dispute their role in designating the next sovereign, while two laws governing the procedure are in conflict.
Traditional authorities in Ijebu-Ode, in Ogun State in south-west Nigeria, are contesting the handling of the succession to the throne of the Awujale and have announced the dissolution of the interim administrative council AIAC, replaced by a new body called Adele Oba Awujale in Council. Chaired by Olorogun Dr Sonny Kuku, Ogbeni Oja of Ijebuland, this body claims to manage traditional affairs until the installation of the next sovereign, according to the Nigerian daily Leadership.
The dispute concerns in particular the legislation applicable to the succession. The traditional chiefs rely on the 1957 law on chieftaincies of Ogun State, while the state government invokes the 2021 one. Two legal proceedings, registered under numbers HCJ/180/2025 and HCJ/149/2026 at the initiative of the Fusengbuwa ruling house, are also complicating the process. The coexistence of the reconstituted AIAC and the Adele Oba Awujale in Council thus sustains a dispute over the authority empowered to administer Ijebuland during the vacancy of the throne.
The seat of the Awujale has been vacant since July 2025, after the death of Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, who died at 91 after 65 years of reign. The Ogun State government had maintained the interim succession council on 3 November, as part of maintaining the interim succession council of the Awujale.
