TRADITIONAL ruler Oba Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan the  Olugbo of Ugbonla in Ondo State has been arrested by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) agents in connection with money laundering.

Highly flamboyant and controversial, Oba Akinruntan, popularly known as Obat, became the first black person on earth to buy the 2014 version of Bentley's Continental saloon car. Involving a major redesign that sees the car come with all sorts of new comforts, the monarch's Bentley Continental is right at the top-end of the luxury vehicle market. 

One of Nigeria's petroleum billionaires, Oba Akinruntan is the chairman of Obat Oil and is known for his opulence, which sometimes matches that of Arab sheikhs. He has already installed his own Olugbo number plate on his Bentley, which joins his custom-built 2012 Rolls Royce similar to that of Queen Elizabeth II. 

EFCC agents have interrogated the monarch although according to sources, the investigations are still too early to determine the amount of money involved in the alleged crime.  Obat Oil has been cited numerous times in fuel subsidy scams the past. 

Asked if the traditional ruler was likely to face prosecution, one EFCC source said its agents have made a lot of progress in putting together a case that warrants charging Oba Akinruntan to court. However, the source added that it was too early to disclose when the traditional ruler might face prosecution.  

Always in the news for one controversy or the other, Oba Akinruntan from Ugbonla in the Ilaje area of Ondo State was banished from his domain by local indigenes in 2013. Apparently, local indigenes had preferred the former traditional ruler of the town Oba Mafimisebi, who was deposed by the Supreme Court following a long legal battle with the billionaire oil magnate.