Adeleke To Appoint New Apetumodu Monarch After Oleyede’s Conviction In US
Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has waded into the escalating crisis in Ipetumodu by directing the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Mr. Dosu Babatunde, to take decisive action on the stool following the jailing of Oba Joseph Oloyede in the United States.
Oba Oloyede, the 27th Apetumodu of Ipetumodu, was on August 26 sentenced to over four years in prison for fraudulently exploiting U.S. COVID-19 loan programmes under the CARES Act between April 2020 and February 2022. He was also ordered to forfeit assets and pay more than $4.4m in restitution.
Since the conviction, Ipetumodu has been gripped by tension, split between those insisting the throne should remain vacant until the monarch returns, and others demanding his removal to allow the installation of a new ruler.
The dispute boiled over on Tuesday during a heated meeting of princes in the palace, where a proposal to formally notify the governor that the stool was vacant ended in chaos.
The meeting collapsed after the Asalu of Ipetumodu, Chief Sunday Adedeji, the most senior surviving kingmaker, refused to sign such a letter, insisting that “peace has to reign first.”
Governor Adeleke, in his first open reaction during Friday’s State Executive Council meeting, ordered Babatunde to “take action on the ugly development at Ipetumodu where the King was recently jailed in the United States of America.”
The governor’s directive marks a shift from the state government’s earlier cautious approach. Until now, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters had said the administration would await the Certified True Copy of the U.S. judgment before deciding on the monarch’s fate.
Meanwhile, the Adeleke-led council also deliberated on broader state matters. The governor urged speedy implementation of Osun’s ICT and Tech Innovation policies, directed the Ministry of Agriculture to roll out the Youth Agropreneurship project across all local governments, and called for urgent passage of bills establishing the Osun Sports Commission and other institutions.
He also ordered local governments to align development documents with the state’s agenda while stressing the need for accurate governance data as elections approach.
But in Ipetumodu, the fate of the throne remains uncertain. Prince Olaboye Ayoola of the Aribile Ruling House expressed disappointment at Adedeji’s refusal to declare the stool vacant, saying,
“We all decided that two new kingmakers should be elected to replace the deceased ones, and a letter was written to the governor declaring the seat vacant. But Chief Adedeji refused… That led to chaos, and the meeting ended without any resolution.”
Adeleke To Appoint New Apetumodu Monarch After Oleyede’s Conviction In US is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
