Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has formally stripped Joseph Oloyede of his title as the Apetu of Ipetumodu, following the traditional ruler’s conviction and sentencing in the United States for defrauding federal COVID-19 relief programs.
The dethronement was announced on Monday by the governor’s media aide, Olawale Rasheed, through an official government statement.
According to the statement, authorities waited until they had obtained a certified true copy of the American court’s judgment before proceeding. Prior to signing the deposition order, the state government had instructed the Ministry of Local Government Affairs to formally obtain the court documents from the U.S.
The deposition order, signed by the governor on May 7, 2026, cited the need to uphold peace, order, and good governance, as well as to protect the dignity and sanctity of the royal institution.
Rasheed explained that Oloyede’s guilty plea and subsequent public conviction had brought shame upon the Obaship institution and the stool of Apetumodu specifically — a situation the government deemed incompatible with continued occupancy of the throne.
The monarch had been found culpable on multiple counts, including wire fraud, filing fraudulent tax returns, and laundering proceeds of crime. On August 26, 2025, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, presided over by Judge Christopher Boyko, sentenced Oloyede to 56 months in federal prison after he entered a guilty plea.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Boyko ordered three years of supervised release upon completion of the sentence, along with restitution payments exceeding four million dollars. Oloyede also forfeited his Medina residence and funds that had been seized during the investigation.
Oloyede carried out the scheme together with Edward Oluwasanmi, a Nigerian pastor and his tax client. The two men submitted fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Programme loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans, using companies they owned and controlled to secure the funds illegally.
U.S. investigators found that Oloyede had operated as a tax preparer and held ownership stakes in five businesses and one nonprofit organization. Oluwasanmi, for his part, controlled three additional business entities, all registered in Ohio. Together, they exploited these entities to funnel approximately $1.2 million in Small Business Administration funds to Oluwasanmi’s businesses and a further $1.7 million to those owned by Oloyede.
Oluwasanmi, who also pleaded guilty to related charges, received a 27-month prison sentence in July 2025.
With Oloyede’s removal now formalized, the Osun State Government declared the stool of Apetu of Ipetumodu vacant and indicated that the process of selecting a new monarch would commence in due course.
