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Police Report On Osun Election

May 10th, 2009 | By admin | Category: NEWS, X-RAYS

Mr. Mike Okiro - Nigeria's Inspector General of PoliceIT 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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9 comments
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  1. Nnamdi Agha May 10th, 2009 5:40 am :

    With all these happenings in Nigerian government agencies that ought to be neutral in election matters, how can foreign observers and election monitors ever believe that our elections can ever be free and fair?

    US report says we cannot last for more than 15 years as a nation. We are even shortening the years remaining with our hands.

    God save Nigeria.

  2. Alfredo May 11th, 2009 12:19 am :

    I don’t think Nigeria is ripe for democracy for now. The government agencies that are saddle with the responsibility of conducting elections and enforcement of law are partisan. Even the attoney General and Minister of Justice is at war with opposition paties. It is evident that we are already running a one party system of Government. I think what we can do to deliver Nigeria from this terrorist attack by this so called do or die leaders is to stand up for our right by civil disobedience to their orders.

  3. Olufemi Longe May 12th, 2009 10:39 am :

    Okiro is a prawn on the chess board of PDP, he will soon be out of reach.

  4. Adeyinka(Paris,france) May 15th, 2009 1:40 pm :

    To stand-up for our right by civil disobedience to their orders ! That is the exact phrase ! But Nigerians are most coward people in the world ! Can we? No ! we are just too weaaaaaaaaak !

  5. Comrade Adebisi Nurain. May 15th, 2009 8:49 pm :

    Let’s thank God for any senior retired police officer that didn’t made it to the post of Inspector General of Police in Nigeria. It is an accursed office. The Occupiers used to exit the position in Ignominy. Tafa Balogun, Sunday Ehindero and Okiro refers.

  6. Nojeemdeen July 27th, 2009 8:48 am :

    Kudo! Kudo!! Kudo!!! To the person who deserve it. Is a great pleasure that we can still hav leader that can telling truth in nigerian Greatest NBA..,..Greatest Greatest AKEREDOLU gbosa gbosa gbosa

  7. Nojeemdeen July 27th, 2009 9:01 am :

    Alas! It is a thing of joy dat justice is prevailing in osun state i pray that at the end will shall gloryfied the of God AC esiwahala ooooo….

  8. Jordan August 6th, 2009 2:16 pm :

    Police! Men – forget it.

  9. Jackson August 6th, 2009 2:20 pm :

    POLICE FORCE – The most corrupt institution. We all know. This nation remains in the dark for adverse!

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