KWAM 1 loses grip on Awujale stool

Popular fuji musician, Wasiu Ayinde, aka KWAM 1, has lost his grip on the Awujale of Ijebuland stool following his rejection by the Fusengbuwa ruling house, whose turn it is to produce the next king.

The musician, in his letter of intent dated December 3 and the lineage data form he submitted, claimed to be from the Jadiara royal family, a unit of the Fusengbuwa ruling house.

The Jadiara royal family, however, disowned him, stating that he had no connection to them.

Also, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Thursday, tweeted a letter in which the Fusengbuwa rejected his claim to the ruling house.

The presidential aide, in the tweet, which attracted over 268 comments and 505 retweets, wrote, “Fusengbuwa Ruling House in Ijebu Ode, my home town, rejects Wasiu Anifowose a.k.a. KWAM 1’s claim to the Awujale throne.”

Ayinde is a known ally of President Bola Tinubu, and many had believed this would influence his ascension to the stool.

But Onanuga’s tweet appears to have foreclosed any presidential intervention.

The Fusengbuwa ruling house, in a letter dated December 11, 2025, and addressed to Ayinde, declared that he was not from the ruling house.

The letter was signed by the Chairman of the Fusengbuwa ruling house, Otunba Abdulateef Owoyemi; his Deputy, Otunba Adedokun Ajidagba; and the Vice Chairman, Prof Fassy Yusuf.

According to the ruling house, its investigation did not establish any proof that Ayinde belonged to the Jadiara royal house or the broader Fusengbuwa lineage.

The family also faulted the certification of Ayinde’s form, noting that it was endorsed by “a purported family unit head,” Adetayo Oduneye, whom the ruling house said was not a recognised member of the Jadiara royal house.

They also queried the timeline of certification, saying the form was endorsed on December 8, two days before Ayinde signed it on December 10.

It added that Oduneye lacked the authority to sign for the family because he had no “locus standi” to certify any lineage documents.

“Consequently, the completed linkage lineage form is hereby declared null, void, and of no consequence. For the avoidance of doubt, your claim to the membership of Fusengbuwa Ruling House is rejected, and the completed form is of no consequence,” the ruling house wrote.

Similarly, the spokesperson for the Fusengbuwa Nomination Committee, Abiodun Ogidan, said Ayinde was not a member of the family.

Ogidan, while addressing journalists on Thursday in Abeokuta, said the family had fixed December 15, 2025, for the nomination of all contestants in the race to produce the next Awujale.

He explained that the names of nominated candidates would then be forwarded to the kingmakers, who had seven days to choose one and submit the name to the governor for approval.

Ogidan said, “We just rose from the family meeting where all the family heads of the Jadiara and Fusengbuwa families met and deliberated on the nomination for the throne of Awujale.

“It has been confirmed by our family that from all that he (Ayinde) has written in the lineage data form given to him, he is definitely not one of us in the Fusengbuwa ruling house.

“Let it be noted that Awujale nomination forms were not given to him; the form had closed by the time he began to claim that he’s from the Fusengbuwa family.”

He added, “How can someone who has never been part of our family meetings or supported the family in any way suddenly wake up at the height of our family’s glory and begin to say what never happened?

“Wasiu Ayinde is only trying to rewrite history, but this is 2025; he can’t pull the wool over our eyes. He is not part of us, and people with fake lineage won’t be part of what we are doing here.”

Similarly, the Chairman of the Jadiara ruling house, Otunba Akinola Odedina, whose family Ayinde claimed to belong to, debunked the musician’s connection to the royal family in a letter that has since gone viral.

Odedina said, “I can say categorically that Wasiu has no genealogical lineage to Jadiara Royal House. The Chairman of Fusengbuwa Ruling House may have rightly given him a nomination form to complete, expecting him to get his roots to Jadiara Royal House authenticated.

“We in Jadiara Royal House have waited for him to show up with his form and whatever documents he may have to prove his linkage. He is yet to show up.”

The head of the Bubiade royal family, another unit under the Fusengbuwa ruling house, Alhaji O.B. Yusuf, also said neither Ayinde nor his father had any connection with the family.

He stated, “I want the general public to know that we don’t have any Anifowose from our family. The Bubiade Royal House has waited enough for him and is still expecting him to show up with his form and whatever document he may have to prove his lineage. Unfortunately, he has yet to show up.”

Yusuf added that rumours circulating that he endorsed Ayinde’s membership form were false.

Additionally, the family of the late Adebanjo Oduneye of Ijebu Ode also said the musician was never a family member and could not have come from the Jadiara royal house.

Speaking for the family, Adesumbo Oduneye said she visited the ruling house to clarify that the Oduneye family knew nothing about the Adetayo Oduneye who signed Ayinde’s data form.

She explained that although Adetayo was her half-brother, he had never been the family head and had no authority to sign documents on behalf of the Oduneye descendants of Jadiara.

Adesumbo said, “He is spreading falsehood because Alhaji Wasiu Ayinde is never a member of the Oduneye or Jadiara royal family. Wasiu Ayinde doesn’t by any means have anything to do with the Jadiara ruling house.”

Responding, Ayinde dismissed claims that he was ineligible for the throne, insisting that he hailed from both the Funsengbuwa and Fidipote ruling houses.

Ayinde, in his statement on Thursday, traced his lineage to the Adeberu branch of the Funsengbuwa ruling house and the Anifowose family of the Fidipote ruling house.

He insisted his royal heritage qualifies him to contest from either house.

Part of his statement read, “By blood, heritage, and traceable ancestry, I am a lawful descendant of both royal lines. These connections constitute my legitimate traditional basis to seek nomination from the Funsengbuwa and/or Fidipote ruling houses.”

Ayinde is currently the Olori-Omoba Akile Ijebu, head of all princes in Ijebuland, a chieftaincy title conferred on him by the late Awujale, Oba Sikiru Adetona, in 2023 as a member of the Fidipote ruling house.

A letter dated July 5, 2023, written by the late Awujale supporting the conferment of the title, affirmed this fact. (Punch)