…Governor Abiodun Must Stop The Imposition And Allow Afobajes To Do Their Job

…Position Paper From Ijebu Progressive Elders Forum (IPEF)

The Crown Must Not Become An Instrument of Political Control. Ijebuland Will Not Accept Imposition.

The Ijebu Progressive Elders Forum has spoken, and every Ijebu son and daughter at home and in diaspora must now listen. What is happening to the vacant stool of Awujale is no longer a family disagreement. It is a government-engineered division.

Since the passing of our highly revered Awujale, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, on 13th July 2025, the process to select his successor has been hijacked, delayed, and polluted with politics by the Ogun State Government under Governor Dapo Abiodun.

The plot is now open

The strategy is simple and shameful:

I. Create crisis in Fusengbuwa Ruling House.

Fusengbuwa has 12 children — Osinuga, Aderudu, Osinupebi, Adekerun, Ogunade, Isenfadeke, Osifusan, Okuyadewo, Adebowale, Olufadi, Osiyemi. The 1959 Declaration says ANY descendant of Fusengbuwa can contest. But the government wants only ONE nuclear family to produce the king. To achieve that, it must impose a disputed Olori-Ebi.

II. Impose Otunba Olukayode Otufale as Olori-Ebi.

Every Ijebu knows the authentic Olori-Ebis of Fusengbuwa. Now a government-anointed Olori-Ebi is being foisted to sign papers, sell forms, and deliver a predetermined outcome. This is divide-and-rule.

III. Deliver Omooba Folu Aderibigbe as Awujale.

We ask Governor Abiodun directly: What is the community record of your chosen candidate?

Ijebu knows the answer. No tangible impact. No history of service to Ijebuland. No cultural footprint. Only one qualification — he is the Governor’s friend and political errand boy.

The Awujale throne is not compensation for loyalty to Oke-Mosan. It is the sacred stool of 5 million Ijebus. It is not for errand boys.

IV. Use State Apparatus to Intimidate Oloriebis.

This is the most dangerous turn.

On 29th October 2026 at 1600 hours, a letter signed by Yemi OLOTO for the State Director of Security, DSS, Ogun State, Oke-Mosan, invited Oloriebis for “investigating activities in respect of sale of expression of interest forms to interested princes and princesses for the vacant stool of Awujale.”

Sale of forms is not terrorism. It is not kidnapping. It is not subversion. It is an internal administrative process of a Ruling House to identify eligible princes under File C17/5/2 of 1943.

Why DSS? Why now?

Because the old process already produced a list. That list is already with the Afobajes. Their job under the Chieftaincy Declaration is to select. The Government’s job is to supervise, not to impose.

But when the Government realized the old process would not produce its anointed candidate, it moved to scrap the old process, criminalize the Oloriebis, and restart a new process controlled from Abeokuta.

Governor Abiodun is attempting the same illegality, using intimidation to stop Afobajes from doing their job.

Our Demands — Clear And Direct

As adopted from the IPEF Position Statement signed by High Chief Adebanjo Adeboluro, National President:

1. STOP THE DELAY NOW. The succession has been stalled for over 15 months. End the unnecessary bottlenecks.

2. STOP THE IMPOSITION. Remove your hand from the scale. Let no candidate enjoy improper advantage because of you. Let Omooba Folu Aderibigbe contest like every other prince from the 12 children, without State cover.

3. STOP THE DIVISION. Stop using the disputed Olori-Ebi issue as a weapon. Let the family resolve leadership through custom, not through government anointing. Fusengbuwa family knows its Oloriebis.

4. RESPECT IJEBU. The Awujale institution is bigger than you, bigger than any aspirant, bigger than any Senate ambition.

IPEF has declared: We will not accept an imposed Awujale. We will not accept a monarch selected through political sponsorship. We will not accept a process where people’s will is subverted.

Governor Abiodun must be cautious. History is watching. Ijebuland is watching. We know and understand the game, but we would not allow it.

You cannot claim to love Ijebu and at the same time desecrate its most sacred institution.

The people have been patient. That patience must not be mistaken for weakness. Ijebus have the democratic right to respond to disrespect through lawful means, including the ballot.

Let the process be. Let the Afobajes decide. Let Ijebuland have its Awujale.

The time for transparent action is now.

High Chief Adebanjo Adeboluro, is the National President, Ijebu Progressive Elders Forum (IPEF)