The Council of Traditional Chiefs in Ipetumodu, Ife North Local Government Area of Osun State; and Ipetumodu Progressive Union (IPU) have dismissed media reports of alleged tension in the town reportedly induced by the absence of the Apetumodu of Ipetumodu, Oba Joseph Oloyede, Latimogun I.
In a statement, the two bodies dismissed the reports, alleging that they were the handiwork of some ‘disgruntled elements who were still griping over the choice and installation of Oba Joseph Oloyede as the Apetumodu’.
A distinguished scholar, university teacher, and renowned tax consultant, Prof. Oloyede ascended the throne in 2019 as the 27th Apetumodu, and was elected as Deputy Chairman of the Osun State Traditional Council.
Recently, there had been reports that Oba Oloyede and 61-year-old Edward Oluwasanmi had been arrested in the United States and were charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, amounting to over $4.2 million.
The alleged fraud, according to the reports, was reportedly committed between April 2020 and February 2022 when the royal father and Edward Oluwasanmi allegedly submitted fake PPP and EIDL applications and fraudulently obtained $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds.
The reports claimed that the monarch had not been in contact with his subjects and traditional council, and had missed several major traditional festivals since the crisis burst open on 3 April 2024, with a publication circulated on major U.S. government websites. These, the Oba’s antagonists claimed, had fueled tension in Ipetumodu.
The situation, Oba Oloyede’s traducers alleged, had stoked serious tension within the sprawling agrarian town.
But in their media statement on Thursday, the Council of Traditional Chiefs, and IPU insisted that there was no tension in Ipetumodu. They described media reports to the contrary as a ‘hatchet job done by some few known disgruntled individuals from the town’ who were hell-bent on ridiculing and denigrating the Royal Father.
The two bodies insisted that there was no break of communication between Oba Oloyede, his traditional council, and subjects, as the monarch maintains regular contact with them. They insinuated that the source of the adverse reports can be linked to some of the contestants in the selection process of the Apetimodu.
The statement declared: ‘It is disheartening that while all other co-contestants for the stool of Apetimodu had since moved on with their individual lives and have been supporting Oba Joseph Olugbenga Oloyede in the task of the obvious development being currently witnessed in Ipetumodu, about two or three co-contestants had remained implacable and had refused to forgive the Kabiyesi for the “sins of being chosen by merit” by the kingmakers.
‘To say that Apetimodu has remained incommunicado is to stand truth on its head. He has been communicating regularly with the elders and other stakeholders in the town. In particular, he has always been in touch with the traditional chiefs in their regular weekly meetings.
‘During the Annual Prayer organised by the Ipetumodu Chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria, on 11 January 2025, Kabiyesi had an interactive session, via Zoom, with all residents of Ipetumodu. He prayed for and answered questions from the community and explained why he was yet to be around’.
On the alleged tension occasioned by the monarch’s absence, the two bodies further said: ‘There is no tension of whatever type in Ipetumodu, except, of course, within the families of the disgruntled carriers of bad news. Ipetumodu is at peace, and there is no agitation amongst its citizens, including youths who sincerely love their Oba’.
They described the allegation that traditional chiefs had refused to go to the palace as ‘a shameless lie from the pit of hell. Except for the Oosa, who died some few days back after years of age-related sickness, and the Iyalode who had been sick for a while now, all the Chiefs do regularly attend their weekly meetings inside the Chiefs’ Hall at the palace’.
