Awujale stool: Adele-in-Council sues Abiodun, challenges reconstituted interregnum committee
By James Ogunnaike Abeokuta
The Adele Oba Awujale-in-Council has dragged the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, and members of the reconstituted Awujale Interregnum Administrative Council before the state High Court, Ijebu-Ode, challenging what it described as an unlawful attempt to displace the traditional administrative structure of Ijebuland.
Other defendants sued alongside Gov Abiodun are the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs as well as members of the recently reconstituted Awujale Interregnum Administrative Council including High Chief Rasheed Adesanya, the Olisa of Ijebu Ode, Chief Chris Okunowo, the Bobasuwa, Prof Jide Ajayi, the Jagun Aso, Chief Stephen Bakare, the Babalaje as well as Chief Alade Shote, the Otun Balogun
The suit dated November 5, 2026 and marked HCJ/201/2026 according to a statement from the Media office of the Adele Oba Awujale-in-Council and supporting court documents made available to journalists on Tuesday seeks to establish the authority of the Adele Oba Awujale-in-Council to oversee the traditional and administrative affairs of Ijebu-Ode during the interregnum following the transition of the late Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona.
The nine members of the Adele Oba Awujale-in-Council led by the Adele and Ogbeni Oja of Ijebuland, Olorogun Dr Sonny Kuku, are asking the court to declare that the Adele system is the only legitimate traditional administrative authority recognised by the native law, customs and ancestral practices of the Ijebu people during the period between the reigns of successive Awujales.
They are also challenging the establishment and subsequent reconstitution of the Awujale Interregnum Administrative Council, describing the arrangement as alien to Ijebu customary law and inconsistent with the Ogun State Chiefs Law.
In the substantive suit, the plaintiffs are seeking a declaration that neither the state governor nor the relevant government authorities possess the power to create or reconstitute an administrative council capable of displacing the Adele Oba Awujale-in-Council during an interregnum.
They are further asking the court to set aside the purported reconstitution of the AIAC and the appointments of the fifth to eighth defendants, describing the appointments as irregular, illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.
The plaintiffs also want a perpetual injunction restraining the governor, the relevant ministries and other government officials from interfering with or bypassing the customary administrative functions of the Adele Oba Awujale-in-Council.
Similarly, they are seeking an order restraining the reconstituted Awujale Interregnum Administrative Council from holding meetings, parading themselves or exercising traditional, civil or financial administrative authority over Ijebu-Ode under the disputed AIAC arrangement.
The statement partly reads the Adele Oba Awujale-in-Council is hereby seeking “A declaration that under the native law, custom, tradition, and ancestral usages of the Ijebu-Ode people, the Adele Oba Awujale-in-Council is the sole, valid, and historically recognized traditional administrative authority entitled to manage the interim traditional and local administrative affairs of Ijebu-Ode during an interregnum following the transition of the Awujale of Ijebuland.
“A declaration that the unilateral creation, establishment, or reconstitution of an administrative body known as the “Awujale Interregnum Administrative Council” (AIAC) by the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Defendants is alien, unknown, and offensive to the native law, customs, traditions, and ancestral usages of the Ijebu-Ode people, and completely inconsistent with the provisions of the Chiefs Law of Ogun State.
“A declaration that neither the Chiefs Law of Ogun State nor any applicable customary law empowers the 1st to 3rd Defendants to arbitrarily invent, sustain, or reconstitute an “Interregnum Administrative Council” to sideline, supplant, or replace the ancestral Adele system and traditional council structures during an interregnum”
The plaintiffs are also asking for “an order setting aside the purported reconstitution of the Awujale Interregnum Administrative Council (AIAC) and the handpicked appointments of the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Defendants by the 1st to 3rd Defendants as highly irregular, illegal, unconstitutional, null, void, and of no effect whatsoever.
“An order of permanent injunction restraining the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Defendants, whether by themselves, their agents, officials, ministries, or privies, from interfering with, bypassing, or disrupting the customary administrative functions of the Plaintiffs as the Adele Oba Awujale-in-Council during the period of the interregnum.
“An order of permanent injunction restraining the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Defendants from holding meetings, parading themselves, or attempting to exercise any traditional, civil, or financial administration over the town and stool of Ijebu-Ode under the guise or authority of the illegal, purported newly reconstituted Awujale Interregnum Administrative Council (AIAC)”
It would be recalled that traditional chiefs in Ijebu-Ode and members of the Awujale Interregnum Administrative Council, constituted by the state government in August last year following the death of the Awujale and paramount ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, recently resolved to dissolve the council and transition into the Adele Oba Awujale in Council to oversee the affairs of the ancient town pending the emergence of a substantive Awujale.
The decision was reportedly reached at a meeting involving the Ilamuren, Pampa, Odi and other chiefs of Ijebu-Ode, where the traditional leaders unanimously adopted a resolution mandating members of the AIAC to step down from their existing positions and assume membership of the newly constituted Adele Oba Awujale in Council.
According to the resolution signed by the Chairman of the Adele Oba Awujale in Council, Olo’rgun Dr Sonny Kuku, the chiefs said the decision to transition from the interregnum administration to the Adele Oba Awujale in Council was informed by their consideration of the existing traditional and statutory frameworks governing the Awujale chieftaincy institution.
The government had however announced the reconstitution of the Awujale Interregnum Administrative Council (AIAC), reaffirming its legal authority to oversee the administrative and traditional affairs of Ijebuland pending the appointment and coronation of a new Awujale
Addressing the emergence of the Adele Oba Awujale group, the government declared that “the body had no legal or customary recognition under the Awujale Chieftaincy Declaration or the existing chieftaincy legislation in Ogun State”.
It stated further that “neither the Awujale Chieftaincy Declaration nor the Obas and Chiefs Law of Ogun State 2021 makes provision for an Adele Oba Awujale group or assigns it any recognised responsibility in the management of the Awujale stool”.
The government thereafter announced the reconstitution of the council with the following members; Chief Rasheed Adesanya, the Olisa of Ijebu-Ode – Chairman, Chief Chris Okunowo, the Bobasuwa as Secretary, while Prof. Jide Ajayi, Jagun Aso, Chief Stephen O. Bakare, Babalaje and Chief Alade Shote, Otun Balogun are to serve as members.
The government said the reconstituted council would continue to discharge the legally recognised administrative and traditional responsibilities of the AIAC until a new Awujale was appointed and crowned.
The Fusengbuwa ruling house had earlier dragged Abiodun, the Awujale kingmakers and five others before the High Court sitting in Ijebu-Ode, seeking orders compelling the completion of the process for the selection of the next Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland.
The Awujale stool became vacant in July 2025 following the death of Oba Sikiru Adetona at the age of 91, after 65 years on the throne.
The Ogun State government halted the selection process in January 2026, citing petitions from security agencies and stakeholders, following an earlier suspension over procedural concerns in December 2025.
A total of 95 aspirants—94 princes and one princess—emerged from the ruling house nomination process held in Ijebu-Ode in December before the government halted the selection process
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