By Ayobami Ife, Abeokuta
Honourable Oladipupo Adebutu, has described the arrest and detention of his Personal Assistant and protege, Gafar Asaolu, in the last few weeks as politically instigated.
Adebutu, the 2023 governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, expressed concern that the Police in the state allegedly, allowed themselves to be used to usurp the rights of innocent citizen Gafar Asaolu.
The former federal lawmaker was however silent in his statement sighted on Friday, December 6, in Abeokuta, about the identity of the person or political entity that used the police to allegedly abridge the rights of his aide, but he alleged further that the police cooked up charges that were at not in consonance with the reality of what happened during the local government elections on November 16, 2024.
He claimed that the certified true copy of statements made by the actors in the events that unfolded during the council polls all attested to the fact that his Personal Assistant, Gafar Asaolu, was not mentioned as an assailant anywhere
He, however, hailed the judiciary for protecting the rights of citizen Gafar Asaolu, and identifying the issue as being driven by politics.
Adebutu said, “We have diligently obtained the Certified True Copies (CTC) of all the statements made by the actors in this matter for adjudication and it is clear that Gafar Asaolu was at no time mentioned as an assailant. Somehow and for reasons best known to the police, they allowed themselves to be used in usurping the rights of an innocent citizen by unnecessarily concocting charges that were not in consonance with the reality of the event that transpired on November 16th, the day of the Local Government Elections.
“While I will not want to delve too much into this matter now for fear of being subjudice, it must be said that we appreciate the Court in its wisdom, acknowledged that this matter was essentially political because the facts already ascertained will make it difficult to detain Gafar Asaolu for the prolonged period that he had already been detained.”
Adebutu also demanded to know what happened to N214billion he claimed the local governments in the state received in 52 months, even as he accused the Dapo Abiodun – led state government of desperation to conceal the information from the people ostensibly to perpetuate what he further alleged as “wanton rape of resources” of the local governments.
He stated: “However, this is a matter for another day. The issue is we dare ask what happened to hundreds of Billions that accrued to the third tier of Government. Two hundred and Fourteen Billion naira in 52 months, that records are available.
“The desperation to conceal this information and perpetuate the wanton rape of resources of the third tier drives the machiavellian tendency to keep control of the Local Governments by all means has taken this dimension.
“We will not be cowed or coerced into silence, we will not retreat from our role today as the opposition party, we will continue to ask questions in the hope that we can stimulate for the benefits of our democracy for our people with the expectation that we can arrive at a transparent, moral, just and good governance in Ogun State.”
On the allegations level against the Ogun state government concerning the management of the alleged N214Bn local government funds, the government had earlier described it as the ranting of a drowning man.
In a statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, the government said it was not surprised by the antics of Adebutu
It said Adebutu ‘’… has acquired notoriety over the years for making baseless and empty claims that call his sanity into question.’’
