The Osun State Government says it will obtain an official copy of the United States court judgment that sentenced Oba Joseph Oloyede, the Apetumodu of Ipetumodu, to prison for COVID-19 relief fund fraud before taking any decision on his traditional stool.
The Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Dosu Babatunde, made this known in a statement on Wednesday.
He stressed that the state government would not rely on unverified online reports.
“While it may be true that the monarch has been convicted and jailed, there is no official record before us,” Babatunde said.
“We will ensure that the Certified True Copy of the judgment is obtained. After carefully studying it, the government will then decide the appropriate steps to take. We cannot rely on Facebook posts and online stories to justify a matter of this magnitude.”
Oba Oloyede, 62, a dual Nigerian and U.S. citizen, was on Tuesday sentenced to 56 months (four and a half years) in prison by U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko. He was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release and to pay $4.4 million in restitution.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, the monarch forfeited his Medina, Ohio residence, purchased with proceeds of the fraud, as well as $96,006.89 traced to the scheme.
Investigators found him guilty of conspiring with an accomplice to exploit COVID-19 emergency loan programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), which were designed to support struggling small businesses during the pandemic.
Contrary to the assumption that the Ipetumodu town may experience chaos or unrest, reliable sources from the environment have said that the people are going about their activities peacefully, and the town remains in order and awaiting the state’s verdict.
