A meeting of princes in Ipetumodu, Osun State, descended into tension on Tuesday when a member of the royal family demanded that the throne of the Apetumodu be declared vacant.
The controversy erupted after Oba Joseph Oloyede, the 27th Apetumodu of Ipetumodu, was recently sentenced to more than four years in prison in the United States for COVID-19 loan fraud. The monarch was ordered to forfeit assets and pay over $4.4 million in restitution.
During the gathering, Prince Olaboye Ayoola of the Aribile Ruling House urged Chief Sunday Adedeji, the most senior kingmaker, to notify Governor Ademola Adeleke and request that the stool be declared vacant.However, Adedeji denied the request, stating that he would not support such a course of action. The princes got into a heated argument over his position, and the meeting ended abruptly without a resolution. He told reporters that “peace has to reign first” in a brief statement afterward, but he declined to comment further. On August 26, 2025, Oba Oloyede’s conviction was confirmed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. With growing rifts between the two royal lineages, Aribile and Fagbemokun, the town has been engulfed in uncertainty since the ruling. The Fagbemokun family contends that the crown should now pass to their lineage in accordance with tradition, while the Aribile Ruling House maintains that the throne should stay with them until the convicted monarch serves out his jail sentence.
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