The Head of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House of Ijebu Ode, Abdulateef Owoyemi, has disclosed that no fewer than eight aspirants for the vacant Awujale throne have attempted to induce the family with money but were rejected.

Owoyemi, who spoke with journalists at his Idowa Ijebu country home on Saturday, vowed that the selection of the successor to the late Awujale and paramount ruler of Ijebu land, Oba Sikiru Adetona, would not be compromised by money politics.

He said, “So far, eight potential candidates to the Awujale throne have approached us with money, but we have turned them down. The council of elders told them that they don’t want anything like 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 the kingmakers.”

The former ICAN President recalled that during the 2019 Ojude Oba festival, the late Oba Adetona had warned against attempts by moneybags to hijack the succession process.

“When it was being said that some people budgeted ₦1bn to become the next Awujale, Oba Adetona warned that his succession must not be dictated by people with deep pockets. He said the right candidate must be chosen, someone who can take Ijebu Ode to greater heights, not bring it down. That has been our guiding spirit,” Owoyemi stated.

Owoyemi also extended an olive branch to aggrieved members of the ruling house, urging them to maintain unity.

“We have always been talking to everyone to be of one accord. We are even ready to make concessions as long as they are not injurious, for the sake of peace. Why should there be strife and unnecessary wranglings when we are from the same mother?” he asked.

Addressing internal disputes over leadership of the Fusengbuwa ruling house, Owoyemi dismissed claims by Prince Adedokun Ajidagba that he was the legitimate head of the family.

He stated that the Court of Appeal, Ibadan, in November 2024, delivered a judgment affirming his appointment as Olori Ebi since 2013.

“As the Almighty God will have it, the Appeal Court upheld all my pleas, affirming my leadership of the ruling house since 2013. The defendants failed to prove the allegation of fraud, which the Ijebu Ode High Court had earlier relied on in 2018 to deny me recognition,” he explained.

Owoyemi added that after the judgment, splinter groups within the ruling house, previously led by figures such as Dr. Kunle Hassan, had since submitted to the court’s decision.

The octogenarian further claimed that before his death, Oba Adetona had invited him to the palace in February 2025, urging reconciliation and affirming him as a trusted ally.

“He asked me to keep in touch constantly as one of the senior title holders in his government. That is why I say I remain a bona fide son of Ijebu land. Attempts to distort history have been quashed by the Appeal Court judgment,” Owoyemi said.

He urged members of the Fusengbuwa family to shun division, greed, and strife, in order to produce “the best Awujale in the history of Ijebu and Yoruba land as a whole.”