The Fusengbuwa Ruling House has offered fresh clarification on why it initially fixed the Awujale of Ijebuland application form at ₦10 million, insisting the decision was a collective one taken to support the nomination process and not an attempt to commercialise the revered throne.
Speaking on Friday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, the Olori Ebi of the ruling house, Otunba Lateef Owoyemi, addressed the controversy surrounding the suspended succession exercise.
According to Owoyemi, the ruling house held a general family meeting where members agreed that aspirants should make financial contributions to cover logistics involved in the selection process, describing the practice as common within Yoruba traditional institutions.
He revealed that although several figures were proposed during deliberations, the family eventually agreed on ₦10 million after weighing different options.
“In the first place, we started with 12 candidates after the family unanimously resolved that a price tag should be placed on anyone who wants to contest for the position of Awujale, as it is common in Yorubaland,” he said.
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“At the members’ general meeting, various suggestions were made. The amount was reduced from ₦100 million to ₦10 million only, and the members were also informed.
“It went from ₦10 million to ₦50 million, to ₦25 million, to ₦20 million, until it finally settled at ₦10 million, and it was unanimously approved. 12 members applied and paid ₦10 million each,” Owoyemi explained.
He added that the ruling house promptly returned all the funds after the Ogun State Government stepped in and directed that the process be reopened to all eligible family members without any payment attached.
Owoyemi said the refunds were completed within three days and that proof of payment was submitted to key government officials.
“We had an invitation from the Ogun State Government to meet with the senior state officials,” he said.
“At that meeting, we were advised that what we had charged was not fair to everybody, and we should return all the ₦10 million each of the 12 candidates had paid and announce that any willing member of the family could apply and could collect the application form from us without paying a naira.
“Within three days, we were able to refund all the money to those who had paid, and we sent copies of the bank advice to the Commissioner for Chieftaincy Affairs, the Secretary to the State Government, and the governor himself in evidence that we have complied with the directive,” he stated.
Addressing allegations that the Awujale throne was being sold, Owoyemi dismissed the claims, maintaining that the money was intended solely for administrative purposes.
“No king-making process is ever done on empty hands,” he said.
“The money was not supposed to be paid to anybody. It was meant to cover expenses incurred in organising the nomination process,” he added.
Owoyemi further explained that nomination fees, where applicable, are paid into a family account and utilised collectively, stressing that the ruling house never set out to auction the throne.
He also noted that recent changes to the selection process have reduced the role of inducements, explaining that all eligible family members now participate in the exercise rather than a small group of elders.
The Awujale succession process has remained in limbo since the death of Oba Sikiru Adetona on July 13, 2025. Disagreements over procedure and eligibility later sparked petitions and protests, prompting the Ogun State Government to suspend the exercise in January 2026.