Awujale: Ogun govt reveals Fusengbuwa crisis, insists on due process

Says perpetrators of media blackmail, disinformation will face full weight of the law

Ogun State Government has defended its handling of the succession process to the Awujale stool, insisting that the emergence of the next monarch must strictly follow due process.

The government also warned individuals and groups allegedly sponsoring media attacks and spreading disinformation to pressure it over the succession process to desist or face the law.

The state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwasina Ogungbade (SAN), stated this in a statement yesterday, stressing that the government had acted with fairness, restraint and in accordance with the Awujale Chieftaincy Declaration and the Obas and Chiefs Law of Ogun State, 2021.

He said that following the demise of Oba Sikiru Adetona, the government had consistently recognised the Fusengbuwa Ruling House’s entitlement to produce the next occupant of the revered traditional stool.

Ogungbade, however, disclosed that the government had to intervene when it discovered that the ruling house was operating under three different family heads, with nomination forms reportedly being sold for as much as N10 million.

He recalled that at a meeting with the family on November 6, 2025, the government advised it to resolve its internal leadership disagreements, operate under one recognised family head and discontinue the collection of nomination fees.

According to him, the intervention yielded positive results, as the family subsequently agreed to operate as one united ruling house, abolish candidature fees, refund payments already made by aspirants and expressed appreciation to the government.

He maintained that the government’s intervention was not intended to deprive the Fusengbuwa family of its entitlement but to ensure that the succession process was conducted in an orderly, transparent and legally acceptable manner.

The Attorney-General explained that while the government respected the traditional succession process, it also had statutory responsibilities in the appointment and installation of traditional rulers, including the authority to reject a nominated candidate where the interest of good governance so demands.

He described recent media publications accusing the government of interference and bias as misleading, alleging that some were sponsored to create public hostility and exert undue pressure on the government.

MEANWHILE, the Ogun State Police Command has dismissed reports alleging that the Awujale Palace in Ijebu-Ode was under siege by suspected thugs, stating that its personnel were deployed to the premises as a preventive security measure to maintain law and order.

A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Command, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi, said the deployment was intended to safeguard lives and property and prevent any breakdown of public peace, rather than to intimidate residents or create tension around the palace.