Tension flared in Ipetumodu, Osun State, on Tuesday during a meeting of princes following the conviction of Oba Joseph Oloyede, the 27th Apetumodu, in the United States for COVID-19 loan fraud.
The monarch was recently sentenced to over four years in prison, ordered to forfeit assets, and directed to pay $4.4 million in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.
At the meeting, held within the palace and presided over by the Asalu of Ipetumodu, Chief Sunday Adedeji, tension erupted after a prince demanded that Adedeji, as the most senior surviving kingmaker, write to Governor Ademola Adeleke declaring the stool vacant.
Adedeji refused, insisting that peace must be restored before any step is taken. His position led to a heated shouting match, forcing the meeting to break up without a resolution.
A prince from the Aribile Ruling House, Olaboye Ayoola, expressed disappointment over Adedeji’s refusal, saying the consensus had been to elect two new kingmakers to replace the deceased and formally notify the governor.
Since Oba Oloyede’s sentencing, Ipetumodu has remained unsettled, with mounting pressure on the state government to intervene.
The Osun State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Dosu Babatunde, told The PUNCH that the government would first obtain a Certified True Copy of the U.S. judgment before deciding on the monarch’s fate.
Meanwhile, deep divisions have emerged between the community’s two ruling houses:
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Aribile, which produced the embattled monarch, is split between keeping the throne in their lineage until Oloyede completes his sentence or selecting a replacement from among previous contestants.
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Fagbemokun princes insist it is their turn to produce the next Apetumodu, since Aribile produced the convicted ruler.
Security was tight at Tuesday’s meeting, with DSS operatives stationed outside the palace.
