Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State – A fresh legal battle has erupted over the succession rights to the Awujale throne, as the Fusengbuwa Ruling House of Ijebu-Ode has filed a lawsuit against Otunba Abdulateef Adebayo Owoyemi for alleged impersonation as the Olori-Ebi (head) of the family.
In a suit filed at the Ijebu-Ode High Court on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, the recognized Olori-Ebi of the ruling house, Otunba Ajidagba Adedokun, accused Owoyemi of unlawfully parading himself as family head in defiance of a previous judgment of Ijebu-Ode High Court II presided over by Justice Asenuga.
The claimants in the suit include Prince Adeleke Adeyemi of the Olufadi royal family, Prince Ademola Sonaya of the Ayora/Tunwase royal family, alongside Adedokun of the Adeberu royal family—all representing branches of the Fusengbuwa lineage.
Adedokun insisted that Owoyemi has no ancestral ties to the Ile-Nla compound in Agunsebi, Ijebu-Ode, which is historically recognized as the root seat of the Fusengbuwa ruling house. He listed the family’s eight legitimate branches as Olufadi, Ayora/Tunwase, Shenowo, Okuyandewo, Oshinuga, Adekenu, Adebiyi, and Adeberu.
According to him, Owoyemi’s origin is traceable to Ikoro-Ekiti, a fact he claimed was openly admitted in court and also affirmed by the late Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona.
Adedokun said his own appointment as Olori-Ebi was duly ratified on November 23, 2023, with formal recognition by the Ogun State Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs as well as the late monarch.
Speaking after the court filing, he stressed that the lawsuit seeks to protect the integrity of the Fusengbuwa ruling house.
“Fusengbuwa Ruling House is rooted in Agunsebi Ile-Nla, Ijebu-Ode. No one can rewrite that history. Chief Lateef Owoyemi admitted in open court before Justice Asenuga that he is from Ikoro-Ekiti. He has no claim to the Fusengbuwa headship,” Adedokun told journalists.
The ruling house is asking the court to restrain Owoyemi from presenting himself as the Olori-Ebi and to enforce earlier court rulings on the matter.
