Oladipupo Adebutu, the governorship candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party in the Ogun State 2023 general elections, has called for an investigation into the leak of an interim report before the police completed their investigation. This call came after Adebutu was alleged to have been involved in a N2 billion vote-buying scheme during the governorship election.
Adebutu has taken legal action against the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, the Director of the State Security Services, Yusuf Bichi, and the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa. However, according to the media director of the Ladi Adebutu Campaign Organization, Afolabi Orekoya, this is just a petition.
In a statement, Orekoya denied the allegations that their campaign organization was involved in vote-buying during the election. He referred to the claims as baseless and a desperate attempt by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the governor-elect, Dapo Abiodun, to undermine their strong case before the tribunal.
It should be noted that following Abiodun’s victory, the PDP in the state questioned his win and took him and the APC before the election petition tribunal. Furthermore, Orekoya explained that the APC and its candidate have previously attempted to coerce, intimidate, and harass Adebutu and his family into withdrawing their petition, but to no avail.
He implied in the statement that the APC has resorted to media trials, malicious tactics, and deceit in an effort to sway public opinion and confuse the judiciary.
The Adebutu Campaign Organization called for a police investigation into the leak of the interim report, stating that the allegations may be politically motivated. They also urged the authorities to refrain from publishing details of an ongoing investigation.
It remains to be seen how this legal action will affect the election petition tribunal, which is still ongoing. All parties involved will need to wait for the tribunal’s decision before any conclusions can be drawn about the vote-buying allegations.
