Apetu’s Throne Becomes Vacant As Adeleke Deposes Osun Monarch Held  In US Prison Over COVID-19 Fraud

 

 

By Akanni Toba

 

 

The reign of Joseph Oloyede as the Apetu of Ipetumodu has been truncated by the governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke following his conviction over COVID-19 relief funds fraud  in the United States.

 

 

Adeleke ordered the dethronement of the monarch following the interregnum created by his absence which was necessitated by his ordeal.

 

The move was announced by Olawale Rasheed, media aide to Adeleke, in a statement released on Monday.

 

 

Thinking Oloyede will return very soon to occupy the Apetu’s throne and resume his reign is a forlorn hope because the monarch was sentenced to  58 months in prison for defrauding the US government of $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds.

 

The conviction happened in August 2025 and since then Oloyede has been held incommunicado.

 

While explaining the reason for his principal’s move, Rasheed noted that Adeleke decided to remove Oloyede following his perusal of the certified true copy (CTC) of the judgement of the US court which delivered to the governor on request.

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“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 reads.

“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 necessary process will be put in place to appoint a new Apetumodu of Ipetumodu at the appropriate time.”

 

Recall that Oloyede’s ordeal started in April 2024 when he was arrested alongside Edward Oluwasanmi, a Nigerian pastor, over the COVID-19 fraud.

 

The arrest happened during his visit to the US after his enthronement as Apetu in Nigeria.

 

They (Oloyede and Oluwasanmi) were charged to court on 13 counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions with criminally derived property.

 

 

According to the charge sheet, from April 2020 through February 28, 2022, Oloyede and Oluwasanmi submitted Paycheck Protection Programme (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) applications containing false information for companies under their control.

 

They also allegedly submitted falsified tax and wage documents to support these applications.

 

“During the investigation, agents found that Oloyede operated as a tax preparer and owned five businesses and one nonprofit. His co-defendant—and tax client—Oluwasanmi owned an additional three business entities; all were incorporated in Ohio,” the US government said.

 

“Both defendants used their businesses to submit loan applications using false information. They obtained approximately $1.2 million in SBA funds for Oluwasanmi’s entities and $1.7 million for Oloyede’s entities.”

 

 

The duo pleaded guilty to some of the offences and submitted plea bargain agreements.

 

In July, the Nigerian pastor was sentenced to 27 months in prison for the fraud.

 

Meanwhile, according to the verdict by Christopher Boyko, the judge who presided over the case, Oloyede will spend 58 months in prison.

 

The judge ordered him to “serve three years of supervised release after imprisonment and pay $4,408,543 in restitution”.

 

According to a statement released by the US attorney’s office in the northern district of Ohio, Oloyede would forfeit his residence at Medina and $96,006, which was earlier seized by investigators.