Osun Moves to resolve Ipetumodu stool crisis

Osun moves to resolve Ipetumodu stool crisis

The Osun State Government has said it will soon take a decision on the lingering tussle over the throne of Ipetumodu in Ife North Local Government Area.

The crisis followed the imprisonment of the Apetu of Ipetumodu, Oba Joseph Oloyede, in the United States for fraud involving COVID-19 relief funds.

Tension rose in the community last Tuesday when princes and kingmakers clashed at the palace over moves to formally request Governor Ademola Adeleke to declare the stool vacant.

The princes had demanded that two new kingmakers be elected to replace deceased members and that a letter be sent to the governor to initiate the process of installing a new monarch.

But the presiding kingmaker, the Asalu of Ipetumodu, Chief Sunday Adedeji, rejected the proposal, urging peace instead. His refusal sparked chaos, with heated arguments, name-calling and threats of violence before the meeting ended in deadlock.

A prince from the Aribile Ruling House, Olaboye Ayoola, faulted Adedeji’s stance, insisting that the majority of the town’s princes supported the call for the monarch’s removal.

Reacting to the development, Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, said after the state executive council meeting in Osogbo that the government had mandated the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Dosu Babatunde, to take up the matter.

Babatunde, however, explained that no action could be taken until the state obtains a Certified True Copy of the U.S. judgment that convicted the monarch.