The Osun State Government may soon dethrone the Apetu of Ipetumodu, Oba Joseph Oloyede, after Governor Ademola Adeleke described his conviction in the United States for $4.2 million COVID-19 fraud as “an ugly development.”
Oba Oloyede was arrested in May 2024 and, in August 2025, sentenced alongside Pastor Edward Oluwasanmi by District Judge Christopher Boyko. His imprisonment has thrown Ipetumodu, headquarters of Ife North Local Government Area, into crisis.
During the week, princes, chiefs and kingmakers clashed at a meeting over calls to remove the monarch. The Asalu of Ipetumodu, Chief Sunday Afolabi Adedeji, opposed the move, arguing that the state government had yet to issue a directive or obtain a Certified True Copy of the judgment.
But in a statement issued after Friday’s State Executive Council meeting, Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, said the governor had directed the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to take action.
“(The governor) further instructed the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to take action on the ugly development at Ipetumodu where the king was recently jailed in the United States of America,” the statement read.
Reacting, Prince Olaboye Ayoola of the Aribile Ruling House welcomed the governor’s intervention, saying it would reduce tension in the town.
“Since the embattled monarch was jailed, there has been tension in our community, but the directive of the governor will ease it now. The kingmakers who were opposing his dethronement will heed the directive,” he said, adding that succession should remain with the Aribile family since the monarch is still alive but imprisoned.
Chief Adedeji also told reporters: “We can’t do anything outside the directive of the Commissioner. We will be waiting for his directive.”
