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Princes clash in Ipetumodu over the Apetumodu stool after Oba Joseph Oloyede’s U.S. fraud conviction. Calls mount for Governor Adeleke’s intervention.

The ancient town of Ipetumodu in Osun State has been thrown into fresh tension following the conviction of its monarch, Oba Joseph Oloyede, in the United States, and the sharp disagreement among princes over the fate of the Apetumodu stool.

On Tuesday, princes from the two ruling houses — Aribile and Fagbemokun — gathered inside the palace for a meeting presided over by the Asalu of Ipetumodu, Chief Sunday Adedeji, the most senior surviving kingmaker.

The meeting, which commenced at about 4 p.m., initially went smoothly as issues of succession and the selection of new kingmakers were discussed.

However, events took a dramatic turn when some princes demanded that Chief Adedeji officially write to Governor Ademola Adeleke, urging him to declare the throne vacant in light of Oba Oloyede’s conviction abroad.

Oba Joseph Oloyede, the 27th Apetumodu of Ipetumodu, had been arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced by a U.S. federal court after being found guilty of conspiring to defraud the American government.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, the monarch and his co-conspirator fraudulently tapped into COVID-19 loan programmes under the CARES Act between April 2020 and February 2022.

On August 26, 2025, he was handed a sentence of more than four years in prison.

In addition to his imprisonment, the court ordered him to forfeit assets linked to the fraudulent scheme and to pay over $4.4 million in restitution to the U.S. government.

READ MORE: Nigerian monarch, Oba Joseph Oloyede jailed in U.S.

The news of his conviction has since unsettled Ipetumodu, sparking a series of debates and calls for clarity on the future of the stool.

During Tuesday’s deliberation, the matter of succession was raised, with some participants insisting that the throne had become vacant by virtue of the monarch’s conviction.

They argued that, as custodian of tradition, Chief Adedeji had a duty to notify the state government and trigger a formal process of succession.

However, Chief Adedeji rejected the request. Instead of endorsing the motion to write a letter to Governor Adeleke, he reportedly recused himself from any move that could escalate division.

His refusal led to a heated shouting match among the princes, causing the session to collapse around 6 p.m. without achieving any concrete resolution.

Prince Olaboye Ayoola, who spoke on behalf of the Aribile Ruling House after the meeting, expressed his displeasure at Adedeji’s stance.

According to him, the princes had agreed during discussions to elect two new kingmakers to replace the deceased ones and to formally notify the governor of the vacancy.

“But Chief Adedeji refused to sign on to that decision. He even announced that he was no longer interested in continuing as a kingmaker. That was when the meeting degenerated into chaos,” Ayoola said.

Contacted later, Chief Adedeji stood by his position but declined to provide extensive details.

His only remark was, “It is true. Peace has to reign first,” suggesting that unity and stability within the community were more important than hasty actions.

Since the conviction of Oba Oloyede, the two ruling houses of Ipetumodu have been split down the middle.

Members of Aribile — the house that produced the convicted monarch — are themselves divided.

While some maintain that the stool should remain with Aribile until Oba Oloyede completes his sentence, others argue that the house should quickly produce a replacement from among those who had previously vied for the throne.

On the other hand, the Fagbemokun family insists that fairness and balance demand that the next Apetumodu should come from their side, since Aribile produced the monarch currently serving a prison sentence abroad.

The Osun State Government has so far adopted a cautious approach.

Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Dosu Babatunde, confirmed that the administration was aware of the development but emphasized that official action would only be taken after the government obtains a Certified True Copy of the U.S. court judgment.

“The government will study the document before making any pronouncement,” Babatunde noted.

Security around Tuesday’s meeting was tight, with operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) stationed in a patrol van outside the palace premises.

Their presence was said to have prevented the verbal exchange among the princes from escalating into a physical confrontation.

The uncertainty surrounding the Apetumodu stool has left the Ipetumodu community in a state of anxiety.

Residents, stakeholders, and traditional leaders are now looking to the state government for direction on the way forward.

Until then, the fate of the embattled monarch and the future of one of Osun State’s most prominent stools remain hanging in the balance.