Ruling Houses Urge Adeleke to Remove Jailed Monarch and Declare Stool Vacant
- The Aribile and Fagbemokun ruling houses in Ipetumodu have petitioned Governor Adeleke to remove jailed monarch, Oba Joseph Oloyede
- The families urged the state government to declare the Apetumodu stool vacant following the U.S. court conviction of the traditional ruler
- Oba Oloyede was sentenced in August 2025 to 56 months in prison and ordered to repay $4.4 million for COVID-19 relief fund fraud
Two royal families in Ipetumodu, Osun State, have petitioned Governor Ademola Adeleke to remove the embattled monarch, Oba Joseph Oloyede, from office and officially declare the Apetumodu stool vacant.
The request, contained in a joint letter signed by ten representatives of the Aribile and Fagbemokun ruling houses, was submitted to the governor through the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs on October 13, 2025.
Source: Facebook
Osun ruling houses demand monarch’s removal
The Punch reported that copies of the letter obtained in Osogbo reveal that the families urged the state government to finalise legal steps required to formalise the monarch’s removal.
They also appealed to Adeleke to instruct the Ministry of Justice to register and domesticate the certified judgment from a U.S. court that convicted the monarch.
They said this would complete administrative processes necessary to depose him under Osun’s Chiefs Law.
The letter noted that the throne has remained suspended for more than three years due to Oloyede’s absence, which they claimed had disrupted traditional rites and community customs in Ipetumodu.
“Now, following his conviction and sentencing to 56 months (4 and 5 years) imprisonment, along with an additional three years (3 years) of supervised release in the United States of America (USA), the need for urgent government intervention has become even more compelling,” the letter read in part.
Ipetumodu stool controversy deepens after conviction
The ruling houses reminded the governor that a United States Federal Court in Ohio had sentenced Oba Oloyede in August 2025 to over four years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to a multi-million-dollar COVID-19 relief fraud scheme.
Source: Twitter
They added that the situation has brought the institution of the Apetumodu into public disrepute both locally and abroad.
Their requests include approval for the monarch’s deposition, a formal declaration of vacancy for the stool, and notification of the Ife North Local Government and Ipetumodu Chiefs in line with official procedure.
They pledged to support a transparent and peaceful succession process that would restore dignity to the town’s traditional leadership.
Legit.ng had earlier reported agitation within royal families negating attempts to depose the incarcerated monarch.
Osun monarch in FBI custody
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Oba Oloyede was convicted alongside another Nigerian, Edward Oluwasanmi, for their roles in a scheme to obtain about $4.2 million in fraudulent COVID-19 business relief loans in the United States.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, Oloyede was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison, ordered to pay $4.4 million in restitution, and to forfeit his Medina residence and other assets linked to the fraud.
Source: Legit.ng
