By James Ogunnaike, Abeokuta
The Head of Fusengbuwa ruling House of Ijebu Ode, Alhaji Abdulateef Owoyemi, has disclosed that the selection of the next Awujale of Ijebuland won’t be allowed to be compromised by moneybags.
Otunba Owoyemi, while speaking to journalists at his Idowa Ijebu country home on Saturday, said that “so far, eight potential candidates to the Awujale throne have approached us with money, but we have turned it down. The council of elders told them that we don’t want anything of such.
“All that matters to us is a transparent and fair selection process where only the best from our ruling house are put forward to kingmakers for the selection as next Awujale.”
Owoyemi, a former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, said the late Awujale, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, during his lifetime had warned that the choice of his successor should not be allowed to be dictated by people with deep pockets or moneybags, as this will cause a lot of setbacks for Ijebuland.
Owoyemi said that “during the 2019 Ojude Oba festival, when it was being said that some people have budgeted N1bn to spend so that they can become the next Awujale, Oba Adetona warned that his succession must not be allowed to be hijacked by moneybags.
“Oba Adetona said, though, he never knew when his time would be up, but whenever it happened, his successor must be the right candidate, the person who has the capability to further take Ijebu Ode to greater heights, not the person who will bring it down and that has been our guiding spirit. We won’t yield the ground for whoever thinks he has the money to throw around”.
Owoyemi, while speaking on some cracks within the family, extended an olive branch to everyone, urging them to sheathe their sword and join forces with the leadership of the family to produce the best ever Awujale in the history of Ijebu and Yoruba land as a whole.
He explained, “We have always been talking to everyone to be one accord, we are even ready to make concessions as long as it is not injurious or unreasonable for the sake of peace because we are all from the same mother, so why should there be strife and unnecessary wranglings?”
The former ICAN President also used the medium to dismiss the claim by Prince Adedokun Ajidagba as the legitimate head of Fusengbuwa ruling house, saying that the Ibadan Court of Appeal judgement of 2024 ruled in his favour as the Olori Ebi, appointed since 2013 after the death of Prince Fasasi Adeyemi
Owoyemi explained that after his appointment as the Olori Ebi of Fusengbuwa in March 2013, some splinter groups had also appointed the late billionaire banker and founder of First City Monument Bank, Otunba Subomi Balogun, as the head of the same family.
He stated that he had challenged this anomaly at a High Court sitting in Ijebu Ode and that while giving his judgement in 2018, Justice Asenuga resolved two of the issues brought before the court in his favour, but failed to declare him as the Olori Ebi of Fusengbuwa.
Owoyemi explained that in pursuit of justice, “I approached the Court of Appeal sitting at Ibadan and on November 28, 2024, in a judgment delivered by Justice Binta Fatima Zubairu resolved all the seven issues brought before the court in my favour.”
In a Certified True Copy of the judgment which was made available to journalists, the three Justices of the Court of Appeal agreed that the defendants failed to prove the allegation of fraud upon which the High Court of Ijebu Ode in 2018 had failed to recognise Owoyemi as the duly appointed head of the ruling family.
Explaining further, Owoyemi said that according to a letter dated 22nd of November, 2023 and sent to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ogun State, Ajidagba was appointed as the acting head of the ruling house pending the determination of the suit he filed against the 2018 court judgement.
He disclosed that “as the Almighty God will have it, the Appeal Court upheld all my pleas, affirming my leadership of the ruling house since 2013”
Owoyemi revealed further that having been confronted with this immutable truth as dispensed by the Ibadan Court of Appeal, the other part of the ruling house, being led formerly by the renowned Ophthalmologist and founder of Eye Foundation Hospital, Dr Kunle Hassan, after dialogue, submitted to the decision of the court last Sunday, affirming his leadership of the ruling house.
The renowned accountant said that even the late Awujale Oba Adetona, before his demise, called him back to the palace in February 2025, to mend fences with him, urging him to keep in touch constantly as one of the senior title holders in his government and trusted ally.
He added that he remains a bona fide son of Ijebuland from Idowa Ijebu and that past attempts to distort history had been quashed by the November 2024 Ibadan Court of Appeal judgement.
The octogenarian urged every member of the ruling house to shun division, strife and avarice, but cooperate with the leadership of the family for a rancour-free selection process for the next Awujale.
The post Awujale stool: Selection process won’t be compromised by moneybags — Owoyemi appeared first on Vanguard News.
