The Ogun State Government has said it is yet to select any candidate to fill the vacant stool of Awujale of Ijebuland.
The government, in a statement signed on Saturday by the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ganiyu Hamzat, dismissed rumours that it had endorsed one Ademorin Kuye as the new Awujale.
Hamzat said the selection process to fill the stool remains suspended, as announced last month, due to a plethora of petitions.
The temporary suspension, according to him, is to allow for proper review and to ensure the process remains transparent, lawful, and acceptable to all concerned parties.
The statement partly reads:
“The attention of Ogun State Government has been drawn to rumours circulating in certain quarters alleging that the Ifa oracle has chosen Prince Ademorin Aliu Kuye as the next Awujale of Ijebuland and that the State Government has endorsed or supported this purported outcome.
“The Government wishes to categorically state that it is not involved in, nor has it endorsed, any such claim. The process for the selection and installation of the next Awujale of Ijebuland is guided strictly by the applicable laws, established procedures, and recognised traditional customs.
“Any suggestion that the Government has adopted or approved a candidate through an oracle or any informal process is false, misleading, and should be disregarded by the public.
“Members of the public are therefore advised to rely only on official communications from the Government and to refrain from spreading unverified information capable of causing tension or misunderstanding.”
The state government had, for the second time last month, halted the selection process for the stool.
The Awujale stool became vacant in July 2025 after the demise of the 91-year-old Oba Sikiru Adetona, who reigned for 65 years.
A total of 95 people, consisting of 94 princes and a princess from the Fusengbuwa ruling house, had emerged during the nomination meeting of the ruling house held last month at Bisrod Hall, GRA Ijebu Ode.
The kingmakers, led by the Ogbeni Oja of Ijebuland, Dr Sunny Kuku, were about to start the selection process for the new Awujale when the government halted the process, citing receipt of a flood of petitions from security agencies and other stakeholders.
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