Nigerian Governor Sacks Convicted Monarch

Ademola Adeleke has officially removed Joseph Oloyede from his position as the Apetu of Ipetumodu due to Oloyede’s conviction in the United States for fraud related to COVID-19 relief funds.

This announcement was made on Monday by Olawale Rasheed, the spokesperson for the governor.

Oloyede was sentenced to 56 months in prison in August 2025 after being found guilty of defrauding the U.S. government of approximately $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds.

The Osun State Government decided to take this action after acquiring a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment from the U.S. court. Rasheed noted that the state government had previously instructed the Ministry of Local Government Affairs to formally obtain the court documents.

“In the Deposition Order signed by His Excellency on 7th May, 2026, the action was predicated on the need to maintain peace, order and good government as well as preserve the honour and integrity of the royal stool,” the statement read.

“The Deposition Order further stated that the fraudulent conduct of Oba Joseph Oloyede, as found by the US court and which he pleaded guilty to and his public trial and conviction have brought the institution of Obaship and the stool of Apetumodu of Ipetumodu to disrepute and public odium, hence the resort to deposition.

“Oba Joseph Oloyede was sentenced to 56 months imprisonment for the offenses of wire fraud, making false tax returns and engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property by the United States District Court in the Northern District of Ohio, United States of America on August 26, 2025.

“By this deposition, the stool of Apetumodu of Ipetumodu has been declared vacant, while the necessary process will be put in place to appoint a new Apetumodu of Ipetumodu at the appropriate time.”

The presiding judge, Christopher Boyko, sentenced Oloyede to 56 months’ imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to the charges. The court also ordered him to serve three years of supervised release after completing his prison term and to pay $4,408,543 in restitution.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, Oloyede would also forfeit his residence in Medina as well as $96,006 earlier seized by investigators.

Oloyede was arrested in April 2024 alongside Nigerian pastor Edward Oluwasanmi over the fraud scheme.

Both men were arraigned on 13 counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions involving criminally derived property.

Court documents showed that between April 2020 and February 2022, the defendants submitted fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Programme (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) using false information linked to companies under their control.

Investigators alleged that falsified tax and wage records were also submitted in support of the applications.

According to the US government, Oloyede operated as a tax preparer and owned five businesses and one non-profit organisation, while Oluwasanmi controlled three additional business entities, all of which were incorporated in Ohio.

Authorities said the duo used the companies to obtain approximately $1.2 million in Small Business Administration funds for Oluwasanmi’s entities and about $1.7 million for Oloyede’s businesses.

Both defendants later entered plea bargain agreements and pleaded guilty to some of the offences.

In July 2025, Edward Oluwasanmi was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment over the fraud.

Additional article from The Witness