“FOR anybody to have stood up before the tribunal and said that the Court of Appeal judgment that ordered the retrial of Engr Rauf Aregbesola’s petition against the re-election of Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola was based on a fraudulent document is a silly statement, I repeat it is a silly statement. Is it because a fraudulent Okiro said a document was forged, a person, who himself is a forger and was named in some national dailies today (Thursday), that a lawyer stands–up in court and said it is a forged document. It is really silly.”
This was stated by Chief Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) while addressing newsmen after the morning session of the Osun State retrial tribunal proceeding in Osogbo on Thursday.
Akeredolu frowned at the attitudes of some lawyers colluding with politicians in hounding their colleagues over issues that are before the court of law.
He disclosed that with the attitude of the respondents’ counsel during the proceeding, it is clear that some of them colluded with politicians in harassing and intimidating of lawyers who are representing the other parties in the case.
The senior advocate described the situation as completely unhealthy for the good of law profession.
He further revealed that he has absolute confidence in the judges, maintaining that they (judges) accommodated all the counsel in the matter.
Akeredolu Stated further, that though the process was slow, but he was sure that at the end of the trial, justice would be done in the matter.
During the cross examination of AC witnesses, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member from Ilesa was overheard saying the mistake committed by the party was its failure to patronize the AC witnesses in order to urge them to stay away from the court.
He disclosed that when he brought up the issue of buying over the AC witnesses through families at the party’s local government meeting, the idea was rebuffed, but today they (AC witnesses) appear to be the torn in the PDP’s flesh.
Also, a female chieftain of the party was heard discussing with the Chairman of Olorunda Local Government council Area, Mr Ganiyu Ola-Oluwa that the witnesses of AC in Odo-Otin have all decamped to the PDP.
They were however perplexed when they saw the first witness, Mr. Soladoye Fasanjo walk into the witness box, saying she was surprised that it was not all AC members who decamped to the PDP in the council area.
Another interesting scene was when the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Mr Lasisi Olagunju was writing news story to be read at the state
government-owned broadcasting stations on his mobile phone, in spite of their numerous reporters.
This, according to numerous observers at the court was responsible for the one-sided report usually relayed at the stations.
The court was thrown alive when the second witness of the AC, Mr Hamzat Kamilu maintained his stance that election process was disrupted by some PDP thugs led by one Mr. S.A. Idowu in seven out of the eight wards at Ekosin in Odo-Otin Local Government Area.
His calmness throughout the period of his cross-examination, which lasted for about 60 minutes by Mr Yusuf Ali, (SAN) further infuriated the PDP supporters, who waited patiently for the witness to commit errors in the process.
The witness who clearly marshaled the questions posed to him by Ali, continuously echoed that the election was disrupted and rigged by PDP thugs led by one Mr. S. A. Idowu, a situation that made the PDP supporters to descend on him, pouring abusive words on him.
Earlier in the court, the PDP hierarchies had been passing around their usual attendance register, insisting that the chieftains signed it as they entered the tribunal hall.
Some security operatives in the court commented that the government in the state has not been doing anything to improve the lots of the people, which they stated was responsible for the large turn-out of the people, whom they said were supposed to be at their working places looking for their means of livelihood.
Members of the PDP later threw decorum to the wind, when they started shouting as lead counsel from both sides engaged each other in a hot argument, a situation that heightened tension in the court.
It however, took the intervention of the tribunal members calm the rising tension.
As the tribunal later resumed hearing for the afternoon session, the warring counsel had put the incident behind them, as they both exchanged jokes.
The three additional witnesses called by the AC clearly provided answers to the various questions posed to them by the counsel to Oyinlola, INEC and the police to the delight of the party supporters in the court.
Meanwhile, the PDP’s side of the court was deserted, as most of their members, who filled the seats provided for them did not return for the afternoon session, as a result of the party’s inability to mobilize them for the session.
One of the party chieftains from Ilesa was overheard arguing with a member of the party that she was only settled to mobilized members from her council area and she would not extend same to others from other councils, stating that their representatives had been empowered to that effect.
By SHINA ABUBAKAR
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]]>IN any democratic setting, there is the freedom of entry and exit. It is only in autocracy that we have only one person ruling; and that with complete power. Also, for any democracy to succeed, the rule of law must be potent while the principle of separation of power is the functional engine for it to thrive.
Countries of the world pattern their democratic governance within certain tenets of usages and ethos that will allow for workability of basic principles that are pivotal to the accepted norms of governance. These engender fairness and equity within the context that nobody is above the law.
The edge the leaders have over and above their followers is mutually accorded and that is to the extent that the leaders still enjoy acceptability from the vast majority of the people. It is a basic fact that tenure is prescribed usually in a coded form so that exceptional rules are also made to accompany the tenure frame. Thus, it is not automatic that tenure completion is guaranteed. The contravention of rules usually punctures the fixity of tenure through impeachment, recall or any other means by which recalcitrant leaders are made to suffer for outright disregard for supreme but passive prerogative, harboured only in the electorate.
Acceptability is pivotal to tenure security. When the followers become disgruntled and there seems to be no change of attitude from the leader, there is bound to be stalemate especially when it degenerates into irreconcilable differences. This may be due to the leader’s insensitivity to the plight of the masses or fragrant disregard for the masses’ beck and call that typify their agitations.
That Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola no longer enjoys the goodwill of the people of Osun State is no news any longer. This has long been demonstrated through Oyinlola’s calamitous fall during the gubernatorial election of April 14, 2007. Typical of Osun people; they cannot be taken for a ride and any leader, however powerful he may think he is, that takes people’s views in matters of mutual interest for granted will pay dearly for it. That was what happened in 2007 when Oyinlola was rejected at the polls; the reality of which he has refused to accept, going by the way and manner he has been dissipating energy unnecessarily which has led to serious disinvestment in the state of the Living Spring from 2007 till date.
Oyinlola has become a fickle and roaming governor that can no longer be trusted. Osun State, today, has been reduced to a theatre of war where the fiercest battle is going on unabated within the entity called Nigeria: more than the one in the Niger Delta.
The legal battle that was instituted in May 2007, barely a month after the election took place has just begun again: courtesy of the ruling of the appellate court that upturned the earlier ruling of the lower tribunal that erroneously validated the election of the impostor Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola. Never has any legal battle on governorship seat been this long in the history of Nigeria as an independent entity. That we will soon see the end of it is only left for God (The Omniscient) to determine.
My main concern this time around is about the turn of events as it affects separation of power within our democratic experiment. It is laughable to see the executive governor of a state run helter skelter over a pronouncement of the law court that cannot be reversed. It has been averred that Naron-led tribunal erred in law to have awarded victory to a group of vote robbers that have Olagunsoye Oyinlola as their flag bearer. The People Democratic Party (PDP) that has branded itself the largest party in Africa has got to the extreme of desperation with their strong belief that with their ability to monopolize the treasury of the nation, there should be nothing impossible for them to achieve. This impression has pushed their operation to the level of sacrilege. They are the professors of due process but they operate in direct contravention of the principle they are cajoling the people into believing in and imbibing.
The PDP are blessed with numerous handy men who are good at formulating policies and fashioning out programmes that are pretty difficult to realize. At the end of the day, they criminalize the same against their opponents while at the same time, shielding their weakness in not being able to effect them in realized dreams and goals. When it is time to penalize failure, they take to fraternity that precludes their members from penalties that others in the opposing camps are made to suffer.
It is normal to see the legislators dabbling into issues that are outside their jurisdiction if it is to favour the members of PDP or if it is to castigate people that are known not to belong to the self-styled largest party in African continent, without regarding it as a disdain for institutionalized mode of operation. They tergiversate quickly to create an impression that they are doing the right thing.
The inspector-General of Police and Governor Oyinlola have definitely forgotten that they are not in a banana republic. Nigeria has all it takes to be the best country in Africa if properly managed, with well-structured mechanism in place to define boundaries of operation amongst the three arms of government. Their recent outburst is not only prejudicial to the principle of separation of power; but it is a usurpation that must be condemned by all. Their melodrama is like one eruption from a pair, suffering from catatonia, but suddenly came back to their senses when their nudity has been exposed in the market place. Incidentally, the duo of Okiro and Oyinlola have attracted people’s odium because of their layman’s attitude in the field of legal profession.
Both Okiro and Oyinlola are laying claim to lawyer’s certificates (I hope they are not Toronto made) and their vituperations came after the court of appropriate jurisdiction has done with the issue. What kind of inebriation must have beaten the two lawyers to the doldrums that they only came back to their full consciousness after two years of open knowledge of an incontrovertible evidence that “not so just” Justice Thomas Naron derisively rejected after he has been specially made opulent by Mr Father Christmas of Osun State who feels it does not matter how he spends the money meant for the development of the state.
If we are in a normal democracy, Okiro and Oyinlola must have been arrested, for questioning the potency of the decision of the appeal court to appropriately regard the police security report as a public document that is admissible under law irrespective of whether it is marked secret, rejected or whatsoever. It was highly contemptuous for these two clowns who claimed to have gone to law schools to become part of the guild of “learned friends” to make the issue at hand a matter of public debate.
I wonder why Okiro could be so easily fooled as to embark on a suicide mission capable of rubbishing his close to thirty five years in public service; apart from the possibility of his being incriminated in the Osun gubernatorial election insinuated malpractice saga. Let whoever cares, tell Okiro that he will mess himself up if he further associate himself with the criminalities being perpetrated by the rank and file of PDP in Osun State.
The police report has indicted all the serving senators of Osun State origin. Whether it is stated in plain language or not, they have been reported as paymasters to gunslingers under whose noses many “CO-OSUNIANS” have been sent to untimely graves. It has also indicted most of the representatives from Osun federal constituencies.
They have variously engaged in ballot stuffing, ballot boxes snatching, killing or injuring their victims whom they claim to be representing now. These unpatriotic Nigerians have no moral standing to represent the people, let alone being nurtured and fed from the resources of the federal republic of Nigeria. By their actions and standing, they are not supposed to be allowed spaces among the patriotic Nigerians who are toiling for a better society. Yet, they are there in Abuja, audaciously debating on what a law court of competent jurisdiction has ruled upon.
To me, this is too contemptuous and I think the legal team of Engineer Rauf Aregbesola ought to have instituted a legal action against those who slated the matter for mentioning on the floor of the senate in the first instance. The action would have also taken care of Governor Oyinlola (desperado per excellence), IGP Okiro who denied the originality of the document and Chief Ebenezer Babatope who has since lost touch with modern exigencies.
They are all recluses that are not supposed to be living among the humans as we only see them fritter away our inward life in outward exercises; the sight of which only inflicts pangs of a troubled conscience that cannot be allayed. Instead of being here with us in the open glare of normal mortals, they should be ostracized to exhibit solitary groan that cannot be stayed; as they are not fit to continually enjoy applauses or fames which a myriad clarions could be loud in. They should be afflicted with harrowing grief that wealth, fame, applause or position cannot alleviate.
As President Umar Yar’ Adua is in the process of national rebranding, he should, of a necessity, call on Okiro, Oyinlola, Adeleke, Omisore, Oduoye, Babatope or any other persons who have engaged in activities capable of stifling democratic norms and principles through their public pronouncements on the police security report that has been considered sub judice document by the appeal court that ordered for a retrial of Engineer Rauf Aregbesola’s petition against the election of roaming Governor Oyinlola of Osun State.
It is imperative that rebranding process must impact on major role players so that the masses can be convinced about the sincerity of Mr President concerning this all important rejuvenating process; more so, when rallying respect for the rule of law is one of the seven-point agenda that his administration is trying to pursue to lift Nigeria to become one of the twenty largest economies by year 2020.
By SAMUEL AJANI
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]]>.Claims N20Bn Damages
Calculating the desperate moves of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mike Okiro and some agents of ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), spearheaded by his arch-political rival in Osun State, Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, as touching a ploy to arrest him on trumped-up charges, Osun State Action Congress (AC) governorship flag bearer, Engineer Rauf Aregbesola has instituted a N20 bilion suit at a Lagos Federal High Court against the Inspector-General of Police, Federal Attorney-General, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa and four others.
Aregbesola said in a suit filed at the Federal High Court, Lagos that there was a plot by the defendants to arrest him in connection with the 2006 bomb blast at Osun State secretariat and the IGP’s claim that the police report, rejected by the Election Petitions Tribunal when he tendered it, was forged.
Also named as defendants in the suit are: the Osun State Government, its Attorney-General, the state’s Commissioner of Police and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police.
The suit seeks the court’s order of perpetual injunction restraining the IGP, AGF and CP, Lagos State, and their agents from infringing on Aregbesola’s rights to freedom of movement, peaceful assembly and association.
He also wants the court to restrain the IGP, AGF and the Lagos CP from “threatening to arrest him and thereby preventing him from carrying on with his business and political career in Osun State.”
He seeks a declaration that the various publications of threat to arrest all top chieftains of AC in Osun State, including, but not limited to him, and publications accusing him of forgery are illegal and unconstitutional.
Aregbesola is claiming against the defendants, N20 billion as general damages for allegedly infringing on his rights to freedom of movement, peaceful assembly and personal liberty.
He said his rights were purportedly breached by the defendants’ threat to arrest him “in connection with the bomb blast and frivolous allegation of forgery against the applicant” and thereby causing economic losses to his business and political career.
Among the grounds for the reliefs include that the restriction of his movement by the defendants “is a violation of the applicant’s rights to freedom of movement.”
He added that there is a continuous attempt by the respondents to infringe on his rights “by alleging that the applicant forged a police document.”
Aregbesola added that a similar infringement on his fundamental rights occurred in May 2006 and was restored by the Lagos High Court, which awarded him N5 million damages.
He said in the suit that the threat to arrest him had affected his political career, as he could no longer meet with his supporters.
The plan by Justice Akinjide Ajakaiye to hear an ex-parte application he filed with the suit was stalled on Tuesday owing to the plaintiffs’ lawyer’s absence in court.
The case has been adjourned till May 12.
By GOKE BUTIKA
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]]>IT is amazing that while the nation is anxiously waiting for the commencement of the retrial of the Osun State governorship election case, a worrisome dimension has been introduced to the legal tussle. In what was claimed to be a reaction to a petition written to the Police and the Presidency by the Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, the Police recently claimed that the report on which the Court of Appeal partly hinged its ruling on the election dispute was forged.
In the petition, Oyinlola had asked the Police to investigate the originality of the report and the identity of the policemen that signed the document. Even before Okiro made its findings public, Oyinlola had concluded that the Court of Appeal was deceived to pervert justice based on a forged document.
In his reply to Oyinlola’s petition, the IG confirmed the Governor’s allegation that the report was fake and the authors of the report, one Ahmed Mohammed and one Odiga Ame J., were not members of the Nigeria Police. Okiro further said that the letterhead used by the authors was forged while the reference number, CL2341, reflected on the document, was non-existent in the Nigeria Police Policy files.
On March 30, 2009, the Court of Appeal in Ibadan ordered a retrial of the petition filed by the Action Congress governorship candidate, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, against the election of Oyinlola, citing miscarriage of justice by the election tribunal due to the rejection of certain documents tendered by the petitioner. The Court had admitted that the documents, including the controversial Police report on the poll, were vital to the determination of the case.
Expectedly, the AC insists that Okiro is being economical with the truth. The party says that, since the Certified True Copy of the police report was tendered at the Osun State Governorship Tribunal on May, 15, 2008, and the only objection raised to the admissibility of the document was that it was not a public document as it was marked “Secret”, why should it take Okiro about a year to come out to disclaim the report. The AC also claims that the report which has suddenly been found to be fake was part of a petition sent to the IG in May 2008, which was duly acknowledged by his office.
Some legal experts insist that since the Police never alleged forgery, either before the election petition tribunal or the Appeal Court, the claim of forgery is a gamble as well as a dangerous after-thought meant as an obstacle to quick dispensation of justice in the election dispute.
It will be difficult for the Police IG to establish his neutrality in the case. It should be admitted that forgery is a criminal offence and the petitioner, Oyinlola, reserves the right to raise objections whenever he suspects any foul play. But the inability of the Police to detect the forgery without Oyinlola’s prompting smacks of gross ineptitude and ineffectiveness.
Since a retrial has been ordered by the Appeal Court, was the court not the proper place for the governor to question the validity of the report? Has Okiro not made the Police easily available for use by one of the disputants? Who are the two officers who signed the report? Are they ghost policemen?
Public confidence in state agencies, especially the Police, has been seriously eroded owing to their partisan role in the electoral process since 1999. Indeed, what is playing itself out in Osun State appears to be a ploy to delay the legal resolution of the governorship case. The Appeal Court should be careful not to play into the delay trap. A new panel to resolve the dispute should be constituted and should commence’ hearing without further delay. The determination of the authenticity of the disputed report is a matter for courts, not the Police.
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The nomenclature of Inspector-General of Police is clearly a colonial relic. Bequeathed on the country by the British colonial authorities, it was always going to be a problematic post within the context of a federal state.
It is important to note that the British authorities who invented the post have never had any such nomenclature in their own country. Policing in Britain is regional and divided into divisions which, to a considerable extent, answers to local control. The post and the make-up of the policing system has to be a focal point in any future review of the federalist basis of association in Nigeria .
In the meantime, as we battle on, we have to live with the present skewed up structure. In such a situation, the character as well as the democratic disposition of the current actors will be crucial. The present holder of the post of Inspector-General, Mike Okiro has clearly failed to live up to the billings. Either out of a failing in character, professional inadequacy, or a heightened anxiety about security of tenure, he has simply been unable to see himself as the Inspector-General of Police of all Nigerians.
On the contrary, his posture of the belligerent is that of a person who interprets his job as that of Chief Security Officer of the ruling party. Not surprisingly, his representatives in the states have taken their cue from his attitude. In state after state, the chief police officers see their fate as been intertwined with that of the state governor. In other words, they do not act as independent agents but as officers for the state governor.
The result, of course, has been predictably disastrous. In the run-up to the contentious Ekiti re-run, the State Police Commissioner Chris Ola, had to be told to step aside. This cannot have come as a surprise. The fellow has been so steeped in partisan politics that no one outside the ruling party has any regard for him. Chris Ola is at par with the inglorious John Moronike in Osun State. Moronike, to put it mildly, is a disgrace. He has put to shame everything a police officer’s uniform is meant to represent. Lacking in character, comportment and subtlety, he know longer bothers to hide his openly avowed partisanship. Moronike, Chris Ola and others like them, represent the ugly face of Nigeria ’s current policing system. Therefore, the police reform committee has its work clearly cut out.
The rot, of course, starts from the top. The disposition of Mike Okiro shows incontrovertibly that he does not have the countenance to run a police force in a democracy. Frankly, it is debatable whether he really understands what a democracy is. Much of his actions are irrational to say the least. Only last week, he threatened a public officer who had resigned her post with immediate arrest. It is difficult to work out how this piece of irrational behaviour can be justified in a country purportedly under the rule of law. The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ekiti State, Mrs. Adebayo was well within her rights to resign. Threatening her with arrest just goes to show how Okiro misinterprets his role, his job and the powers of the police force. In this instance, as in so many others, he has brought the force into ridicule.
Any rational person can only be fearful about the implications of all this for the polity as we march on towards the decisive general elections in 2011. The head of the police force, his actions and his reactions, will be crucial in deciding the level of the political thermostat in that pivotal year. The time has come to begin the search for an Inspector-General of Police who is, at least, in sync with the rule of law.
Mike Okiro is not up to the job and he should go. His cruse ineptitude can be seen from the fact that in spite of all the braggadocio, the crime level has not reduced. This should not come as a surprise. Modern policing systems are built on rational scientific basis and not on childlike blood and thunder.
A new police force and a comprehensive modern policing system has to be built in Nigeria . It will have no place for the Mike Okiros, Chris Olas and John Moronikes. The task will be arduous and long but it must start straight away. The fine tradition of the force that produced Louis Edet, Kam Salem, M.D. Yusuf must be re-enacted. Mike Okiro represents a bad era, he has no place in the future.
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Gentlemen,
I am very sad at writing you on this issue. It is about my observations about the The Tribune Newspapers in recent times which seem to have yielded it’s platform to agents of neo-colonialism and reactionary forces within the Nigeria political space to strut their trade.
This is a Newspaper established by the late Sage himself, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, to propagate his ideals and politics of abundant life for all. The Newspaper served as a veritable mouthpiece for proponents of true federalism, free education, free health, welfarism and other progressive ideas that Chief Awolowo stood for in his life time.
For his uncompromising stand on these ideals and philosophies of progressive governance, Awo suffered untold persecution in the hands of the feudalists and their ever willing collaborators in the Southwest, culminating in his unjust imprisonment.
For many of us who were not born in the 1960s, we read of his exploits and particularly his travails, all because he was fighting for a brighter future for Nigerians.
I particularly was moved to tears when i read his book “MY MARCH THROUGH PRISON”, some of the humiliations and even personal trajedy of the loss of a son while in prison, all because he would not compromise our future for a pot of porridge like some politicians of today. Many of them who claim to be his proteges have sold out to the camp of the Conservatives whom he stood against all his life.
But by far the saddest and the most tragic in my estimation is The Tribune Newspaper, which has unbelievably turned itself into an unofficial mouthpiece, particularly for the agents of reaction and ultra-conservatives in the Southwest.
In the times past, i used to follow Uncle Bola Ige’s column in the Tribunes until the Conservatives in the PDP cut him down, all in their evil bid to overun the Southwest and obliterate everything Papa Awo stood for in his lifetime. It is this nest of killers that The Tribune is now siding with. It is a tragedy of monumental proportions .
In the on-going battle to reclaim our progressive heritage back from the hands of PDP marauders led by Olusegun Obasanjo, it is on record that rather than stand up to be counted on the side of the people in this trying times, The Tribunes has rather been giving wide coverage and visibility to the Conservative elements in Yoruba land. As a matter of fact, it is about the only Newspaper that is boldly displaying the Campaign advert of PDP’s Segun Oni in the run up to this weekend’s election re-run in Ekiti State.
But by far the most riling and unfortunate of it all is the Newspaper’s Editorial of today 22nd April 2009 titled “OSUN GUBER RACE: A MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE ? “
In the said editorial, the Tribune literally turned itself to PDP and Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s megaphone by openly questioning the Ibadan Appeal Court’s ruling on the A.C.’s Aregbesola’s appeal which ordered a re-trial of the petition at a yet-to-be-constituted new tribunal on the ground inter alia that some vital evidence of the appellant was wrongly denied admissibility at the earlier Tribunal.
Tribune’s grouse was on a recent claim by the Inspector General of Police Mike Okiro that the much talked about Police Report sought to be tendered by A.C’s Aregbesola was forged, a claim that is also being roundly condemned as an afterthought on the part of the IGP.
Granted that a Newspaper can chose to give prominence to certain political tendencies over others, it has been said that it is good news reporting, to give both parties to a story the benefit of airing their own views. Within this context, one can excuse The Tribune for whatever mileage it is giving to PDP elements in it’s reporting. I leave others to judge whether it has achieved balancing in this regard,vis-a-vis it’s treatment of the progressives.
The Tribune’s betrayal of our common cause is so sad and should rank as one the biggest tragedies in Nigerian history.
But what is not contestable is the fact that the choice of an Editorial is a deliberate one and a reflection of the thoughts and philosophical leanings of a Newspaper.
I often wondered that, Were Uncle Bola Ige to still be alive, whether The Tribune would have descended to it’s current state. I also know that both Senator Femi Okunrounmu and Mr Bamidele Aturu are columnists in the Newpaper, but i wouldn’t know the extent of their influence on editorial matters or whether they are even members of the Editorial Board. Because as far as we know, these are people who have always fought on the side of the Nigerian people against the retrogressive politics of the PDP controlled Federal Governments and have not sold out.
I don’t claim to be versed in the economics of Newspaper publishing, but if like any product and service, acceptability and patronage has effect on profitability, i am sure The Tribune must be feeling the effect of this betrayal on their financial bottomline now. This is because like so many of my friends who feel this same way, I can’t imagine myself buying The Tribune Newspaper again, I’ll rather buy The Punch, The Nation or even The Daily Trust.
Olusegun Adeyeye
Port-Harcourt, Nigeria
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]]>Grand Ploy To Tamper With Police Official Records Suspected! Integrity of Nigerian Police Force Is Being Tested!The leadership of the Action Congress (AC) in Osun State, have lambasted Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mike Okiro, for lying over the police report on the April 14, 2007 governorship election in the state.
Okiro was reported on Sunday as having claimed in his replied letter to Oyinlola that the controversial police report and its authors were fake and faceless.
According to a statement issued by the Chairman and the Secretary, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti and Mr. Gboyega Famodun, they described Okiro as a willing tool in the hands of Oyinlola to suppress the truth and the heinous electoral crimes committed by chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State.
The statement further described Okiro’s volte-face as an incredible falsehood calculated to serve the interest of the electoral crimes of the ruling PDP. The AC cited three instances in the last 13 months when the now controversial police report of electoral crimes committed by the PDP during 14th April 2007 gubernatorial elections in Osun State was made public, and even admitted by Okiro’s office as part of the pettitions of both Engineer Rauf Aregbesola and the Action Congress.
The Party described the allegations by Okiro and Oyinlola as shameless, warning that this could rubbish the integrity of the Nigerian Police Force, saying: “… it is on record that the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the police report was tendered in the case of Aregbesola and others versus Oyinlola and others at the Osun Governorship Tribunal on May 15, 2008.
“The only objection raised to the admissibility of the document was that it was not a public document, as it was marked ‘secret’. Oyinlola and his henchmen knew that the document was genuine and they only sought to protect its secrecy while in court.
“They did not want the court to look at the document, as it would put them all in trouble. It was this contention that was rejected by the Court of Appeal on March 30, 2009.
“Now that the court has looked at the document, Oyinlola and his hatchet man, Okiro, have turned around to say that the document is fake. The orchestrated lies of Oyinlola and Okiro will not stand the test of time, as truth and justice will definitely prevail in this case.”
The AC said this latest outburst of Okiro, was a manifestation of the desperation of Oyinlola and suspects a grand plot by PDP to deliberately tamper with official records of the police to suit the illicit interest of governor Oyinlola.
The police report, which highlighted the violence in Osun State during the 2007 general elections, was compiled by a security team from the “B” Department of the IG’s Office, which monitored the polls.
Members of the police team also visited Oyinlola at about 8:30 am on the governorship election day, before embarking on their duties, according to the report.
The team was said to have witnessed the killing of no fewer than 12 AC members within two working days of monitoring the election.
The AC said the personalities indicted by the security team’s report formed the “nest of killers” in Osun PDP.
It said the police report Oyinlola and Okiro were now challenging as fake and a forgery was first published in the March 10, last year’s edition of The News magazine.
In a petition to Okiro by the governorship candidate of the AC in Osun State, Alhaji Rauf Aregbesola, on May 6, last year, which was acknowledged as received on May 9, the violence perpetrated by Oyinlola-led PDP during the election was well documented.
The petition written by the Osun chapter of the AC to Okiro on the issue on May 5, last year, entitled: “Their blood cries out,” was also received on May 9. In it, Okiro’s attention was drawn to the police report.
AC also expressed disappointment that Okiro, who should arrest and prosecute those who allegedly unleashed terror on Osun residents was collaborating with the governor to pervert the course of justice.
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Another chapter in the diary of fascism was opened yesterday in Nigeria’s South Western State of Osun, as an Osogbo Magistrate Court revoked the bail granted the 24 members of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) who were arraigned in July 2008 for protesting against the alleged illegal communing between Otunba Kunle Kalejaye (SAN) and members of the Justice Thomas Naron-led Osun State Election Petition’s Tribunal.
As soon as the Magistrate Olalekan Ijiyode revoked their bail and remanded the CACOL members in Ilesa Maximum Security Prisons on Monday, one of the Human Rights activists, Comrade Shuaib Adeoye collapsed in the dock and fainted.
Adeoye was left unattended to by the heavily armed police team led by the controversial DSP Adekunle Ayuba who came for prosecution.
When the accused persons were called into the dock, Ayuba requested that their names be called again and opposed their bail.
The CACOL members have been present at their trial on every adjourned date since last year when they were first arraigned after an unduly prolonged period of remand in Ilesa Prisons custody.
Objecting to the application for bail moved by Mr. Alfred Adegoke for the accused persons who were charged to court for conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace, DSP Ayuba cited an innocuous security report which claimed that the men were in the midst of another alleged plans to carry out what he described as another more grievous protest.
The Magistrate then ordered that the accused persons that included the chairman of the Osun State chapter of National Conscience Party (NCP), Comrade Waheed Lawal be remanded in Prison till April 14, 2009 when he would deliver his ruling.
We call this development an unnecessary misuse of the judiciary to intimidate, harass, hound and silence those who are opposed to Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
When, following national and diplomatic outcry, chieftains of the PDP led by Chief Gani Oladiran were reluctantly arraigned in court raping a member of the opposition Action Congress (AC), Miss Tosin Ajakaye, the accused persons were summarily granted bail without suffering prolonged period of remand like members of the opposition.
Comrade Shuaib Adeoye, who is now in coma at the emergency unit of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital Complex (LAUTECH) was, before his arrest, physically slapped, kicked severally in his groin and battered on the head, chest and stomach by the Osun State Police Commissioner, Mr. John Moronike in the presence of journalists who covered the peaceful protest. Since then, Adeoye has not been in good health.
The Police under Mr. Moronike curiously provided cover for dismissed chairmen and councilors of the PDP who were armed with guns and machetes as they protested round Osogbo, the state capital against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Ibadan which sacked them and voided their elections as illegal.
Many innocent members of the public were injured but the Police turned the other eye as if nothing happened. Several members of the opposition have been gunned down and killed by known PDP chieftains with no arrests or prosecution. The former chairman of Ilesa East Local Government, Mr. Isaac Makinwa who shot and killed four members of AC in Ilesa on April 14, 2007 with his riffle was ordered to be released by Governor Oyinlola from Police custody.
Mr. Dokun Adeniji and one Mr. Wasiu embedded into the convoy of Senator Iyiola Omisore who were alleged to have killed Mr. Samson Olanrewaju on April 14, 2007 elections day have remained untouchable till today just as the Abayomi Ogundeji, son of the member representing Boripe/Boluwaduro State Constituency, Mr Akanmu Ogundeji are walking their streets free with the blood of innocent opposition members staining their hands.
The change of Magistrates was merely exploited by the Police acting under the influence of Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola to haul these human rights campaigners into detention.
There is no threat to the peace of Osun State. Since they were arraigned in court last year, the Police have not opened trial while the CACOL members have always been present in court.
We take serious exception to this unrelenting assault and violation of the rights of our people and warn that if the Osun State Police Command should continue this way, victims of lawlessness and state-sponsored aggression may resort to self-help.
We call on the Inspector-General of Police, Sir Mike Okiro to step into the matter today and prevent the duo of Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Mr. John Moronike from turning Osun State into a battle field where innocent people will be turned to guinea fowls under a pacification exercise.
Comrade Adeoye must not die because he has done nothing to warrant this ordeal. We call for immediate halt to this regime of fascism and totalitarian aggression on the rights of our people who patience is already growing thin with every passing day under the jackboot democracy patented and foisted by retired Brigadier-General Olagunsoye Oyinlola in Osun State.
SIGNED BY: Gbenga Fayemiwo
Media Director to Action Congress (AC) Gubernatorial Candidate for Osun State, Engineer Rauf Aregbesola
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With the conclusion of hearing into the appeal we filed against the judgment of the Justice Thomas Naron led Elections petition Tribunal, we shall not be stampeded into joining issues with Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola henceforth.
We, as responsible and disciplined citizens of Nigeria have resolved to make our claims before the Justice Victor Omage-led Appeal Panel without playing to the gallery.
That Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola decided to defer his mandate after the case was closed at the Appeal Court smacks of desperation and fear of the expectant Justice as opposed to arbitrariness.
We enjoin members of our great party and teaming supporters to remain calm peaceful and assured that justice will be done over the electoral heist committed against the people of Osun State on April 14, 2007.
We have absolute confidence in the judiciary that the days of technical justice which gave Governor Oyinlola Judgment at the lower tribunal are gone forever.
In this era of substantial Justice, only the guilty are scared stiff of the current wave of courageous pronouncements of the third Estate of the realm. Only those fugitives who are afraid of justice will run commentary on a case after final submissions in the court and before the verdict is delivered. To join issues with a fool at a time like this is to become a fool oneself.
We have made our case and rested same at the doorstep of Justice and we are calmly awaiting Justice with abiding faith in the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Only the fugitives of the law will do what Governor Oyinlola has done by attempting to usurp the roles of the judiciary.
Engineer Rauf Aregbesola has presented his case in the best tradition of advocacy devoid of deceit and untruthfulness.
He is expecting justice to roll down like water and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.
The probative value of evidential justice should be allowed to wheel justice in an unfettered manner as we await the dawn of hope and rejuvenation in Osun State.
Aregbesola is too cultured and law-abiding to be drawn into any contemptuous commentary about the temple of justice.
Signed By Gbenga Fayemiwo
Media Director For Engineer Rauf Aregbesola,