Awujale: Selection Process Remains Suspended, Prince Kuye Not Endorsed – Ogun Govt, Fusengbuwa House 

By Ayobami Ife, Abeokuta

The Ogun State Government on Saturday said that no prince has been endorsed as Awujale of Ijebuland, stressing that the process of selecting the next Awujale remains suspended.

The state government which made this clarification while denying reports alluding that it had endorsed Prince Ademorin Aliu Kuye as the next Awujale of Ijebuland, dismissed the claims as false and misleading.

It stated this in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ganiyu Hazmat, adding that Governor Dapo Abiodun – led administration “is not involved in, nor has it endorsed, any such claim.”

It noted that the selection and installation of the Awujale is strictly guided by applicable laws, established procedures, and recognised traditional customs.

It stated, “Attention has been drawn to rumours circulating in certain quarters alleging that the Ifa oracle has chosen Prince Ademorin Aliu Kuye as the next Awujale of Ijebuland and that the State Government has endorsed or supported this purported outcome..

“Any suggestion that the Government has adopted or approved a candidate through an oracle or any informal process is false, misleading, and should be disregarded by the public.

“Furthermore, the Ogun State Government wishes to inform all stakeholders and the general public that the process for filling the vacant stool of the Awujale of Ijebuland has presently been halted.

“This decision was taken in view of the various complaints and petitions received concerning the selection procedure. The temporary suspension is to allow for due review and to ensure that the process remains transparent, lawful, and acceptable to all concerned parties.

“The Government remains committed to maintaining peace, order, and respect for due process and traditional institutions across the State.”

The stool of Awujale of Ijebuland became vacant with the death of Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, Ogbagba 11, who passed away on July 13, 2025 at 91 after 65 years reign on the throne.

Efforts by the corresponding ruling house and the town’s kingmakers to fill the vacant stool have been mired in unending setbacks as the process was halted two times by the Ogun State Government, first on December 18, 2025, when it cited procedural error as reason for the decision.

However, days after it had directed the process to resume on January 6, 2026, the same state government in a curious twist ordered the Fusengbuwa Ruling House which is the next in line to produce the next Awujale and the Ijebu Ode kingmakers to stop the process of screening the 95 nominees (94 princes and one princess) who were jostling for the stool.

The government identified the need to safeguard the integrity of the stool and look into the flood of petitions –  all alleging among other things, a compromise of the process as reasons for halting the exercise the second time.

It states in part, “We, as Princes and Princesses of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House, the royal family qualified to produce the next Awujale of Ijebuland, make bold to say that Hon Kuye’s claim of being the Awujale-elect borders on pretence to a stool he has not been selected for and a gross violation of the customary law, infractions which should be viewed seriously by the appropriate authorities and met with appropriate sanction and punishment.

“No doubt, Hon Kuye and his supporters’ actions constitute real threats to the peace of the entire Ijebuland!

“Again, for further clarity, we want to say that no particular candidate has been chosen as the Awujale-elect. Kuye’s claims and pretension are therefore patently false, as the decision regarding the matter of the candidate for the Awujale stool has yet to be finalised by the appropriate appointing authorities.

“We also want to sound a note of warning to the musician, Hamdalat Abeni to be extra-careful in order not to be embroiled in litigations over involvement in the illegal declaration of Kuye as Awujale-elect, particularly for referring to Kuye in her song as “Kabiyesi.”

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