Olori Ebi of Fusengbuwa Ruling House and former President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Abdullateef Owoyemi, has said the next Awujale will emerge within a month.

He advised anyone aggrieved to channel their grievances to the government, assuring that the kingmakers would not make any mistakes in the selection.

However, armed operatives of the Police, Department of State Security Service (DSS), as well as Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have beefed up security around the Bisirodipe Hall, GRA Ijebu Ode, venue of Fusengbuwa Ruling House nomination of the next Awujale of Ijebuland.

Meanwhile, the ruling house has lashed out at popular Fuji musician, Wasiu Ayinde, also known as KWAM1, over his protest letter to Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, in which he alleged that he was being deliberately excluded from the ongoing selection process of the next Awujale of Ijebuland.Owoyemi was speaking yesterday after the screening of the 95 aspirants to the position of the Awujale in Ijebu-Ode.

He stated that after the due process of nomination and submission of names, kingmakers would choose the best candidates and forward their names to the government for approval.

“We have 19 days for anyone aggrieved to express their displeasure. We have 86 princes and princesses who expressed interest in the throne; we have successfully, peacefully, and harmoniously nominated 86 candidates today. Now, it’s in the hands of the kingmakers to do their work and select one of them for us.

“We in the Fusegbuwa Ruling House have done a lot of traditional research through the oracles to guide us on what’s going to happen, and we have no doubt at all that the kingmakers are going to select the person that the Almighty God himself has appointed, and our ancestors have also blessed,” he said.

At the entrance gate leading to the venue, security operatives had a hectic time controlling those who could not justify why they should be at the venue or show an entry pass.

The nomination exercise was scheduled to commence at noon, butstarted a little late due to the late arrival of local council officials, led by Secretary to the Local Government (SLG), Oke Adebanjo, to the venue, but the hall was filled to the brim with members ready to nominate their choice to the revered Awujale position.

Among the candidates nominated are Fatai Arowolo of Aroon Construction Company; Biodun Onanuga (husband to the immediate past deputy governor), and Dr Kunle Hassan (founder of Eye Foundation).

DRAMA ensued when a group suspected to be from the Eruobodo Ruling House was denied access due to their inability to provide an entrance permit to the joint security personnel at the gate and the group protested such action.

Leader of the group, Adeyemi Oduneye from the Orubodob Ruling House, stated that the process disenfranchised them from taking part in the selection process.

The group was identified as the one that signed and harboured the Fuji music maestro and Olori Omooba of Ijebu land, Wasiu Ayinde, into their circle and gave him the green light on his ambition to become the next Awujale.

Ayinde had, earlier, expressed concern over perceived moves by the Fusengbuwa Ruling House to exclude him from the nomination process for the next Awujale of Ijebuland.

He alleged that Fusengbuwa, which is next in line to produce the Awujale, has been making decisions that run contrary to the Chieftaincy Declaration, Obas and Chiefs Law of Ogun State.

In a letter to the governor, KWAM 1, who is said to be of the Fidipote Ruling House, claimed that Fusengbuwa was sidelining him from the selection process.

About 95 princes and princesses were said to have indicated their intentions to succeed the last Awujale, late Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, who joined his ancestors at 91 on July 13, 2025, after 65 years on the throne.

KWAM1’s allegations of exclusion were contained in a letter dated January 8, 2026, sent to Governor Abiodun by his lawyer, Dr Wahab Shittu (SAN).

Earlier, he had approached the Ogun State High Court in Ijebu Ode seeking an interim injunction to restrain Governor Abiodun and six others from proceeding with the selection process, but the court declined the request.

The musician eventually withdrew the suit, without providing explanations. However, in the recent letter to the governor, he recalled that the Ijebu Ode Local Council had, through a letter dated January 6, 2026, from its Secretary, Oke Adebanjo, granted Fusengbuwa Ruling House the approval to commence the nomination process and conclude it within 14 days starting from January 6.

But responding to KWAM1’s petition, the Vice Chairman of Fusengbuwa Ruling House, Prof Fassy Yusuf, dismissed the protest letter as “arrant nonsense” with no bearing on the selection process.

Yusuf said, “It is a misguided letter. Either Wahab Shittu is being misled, or Wasiu Ayinde is being misled. It is arrant nonsense.”