The Ijebu Progressive Elders Forum (IPEF) has cautioned Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun against what it described as an attempt to impose a preferred candidate on the people of Ijebuland as the next Awujale.

The forum, in a statement signed by its National President, High Chief Adebanjo Adeboluro, called on the governor to immediately withdraw from the “process” and allow the kingmakers to perform their traditional responsibility of selecting the next Awujale in accordance with the relevant chieftaincy declaration.

The forum alleged that the succession process, following the death of the revered monarch, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, on July 13, 2025, had been subjected to “unnecessary delays, political interference and deliberate attempts to create divisions within the Fusengbuwa Ruling House.”

Describing the situation as more than an internal family disagreement, IPEF declared that the crisis was becoming a threat to the integrity of the traditional institution.

“What is happening to the vacant stool of Awujale is no longer a family disagreement. It is a government-engineered division,” the forum alleged.

IPEF questioned the recognition of Otunba Olukayode Otufale as Olori-Ebi of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House, insisting that the leadership of the family should be determined by its members in accordance with established customs.

“Every Ijebu knows the authentic Oloriebis 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,” the statement said.

The forum stressed that every qualified prince should be allowed to participate in the succession exercise without political influence or preferential treatment.

The forum also raised concern over the invitation reportedly extended to some Fusengbuwa Oloriebis by the Department of State Services (DSS), Ogun State Command, over the sale of expression-of-interest forms to princes and princesses interested in the vacant stool.

According to the statement, the invitation letter requested the attendance of the traditional family leaders in connection with what it described as “investigating activities in respect of sale of expression of interest forms to interested princes and princesses for the vacant stool of Awujale.”

IPEF questioned the involvement of the security agency in what it described as an internal administrative process of the ruling house.

They maintained that a list of eligible candidates had already been produced and forwarded to the Afobajes, whose responsibility, they argued, was to select the next monarch in line with the applicable chieftaincy provisions.

“Their job under the Chieftaincy Declaration is to select. The Government’s job is to supervise, not to impose,” IPEF stated.

The elders demanded an end to what they described as unnecessary delays in filling the vacant stool, insisting that the process had been stalled for more than 15 months.

They also called on Abiodun to stop any alleged attempt to favour a particular aspirant, remove political influence from the selection exercise and allow all eligible princes from the 12 branches of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House to participate.

On the disputed Olori-Ebi issue, the forum urged the government to allow the family to resolve (Daily Trust)