Adebutu reacts to vote buying, money laundering allegations

Ladi Adebutu, the candidate for governorship in Ogun State on the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has responded to the allegations of vote-buying made against him by the Federal Government by saying that he does not accept them.

It was reported that the office of the Attorney General of the Federation had initiated legal action against Adebutu and nine other individuals for the allegations of vote buying and money laundering that occurred during the 2023 elections.

Wednesday, the Media Director of Adebutu’s campaign organization, Afolabi Orekoya, released a statement in which Adebutu claimed that he had neither been invited by the police nor served any court document related to the suit. Adebutu’s statement was made public.

He referred to the lawsuit as an abuse of the court process and a plot by the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, and the All Progressives Congress to divert the Tribunal’s attention away from the work that it is supposed to be doing.

Adebutu also disproved the rumour that he fled the country to avoid being arrested by the police by stating that he left the country on April 25 for his routine medical check-up after the election. This was in response to the rumour that he fled the country to avoid being arrested by the police.

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The following is an excerpt from the statement: “We are just seeing it also in the media and I will just want to make some points clear, Oladipupo Adebutu has not been served with any court document as regards any charges except for the media trial that we are seeing all around to mislead the public and the Tribunal. “The media trial that we are seeing all around to mislead the public and the Tribunal.”

“They (APC and Abiodun) are only trying to distract people and distract the judiciary from giving proper attention to the merit of the petition that is before them,” Abiodun said of the APC and Abiodun. They ought to give the Tribunal the opportunity to do its work, as this constitutes an abuse of the judicial system. If they do so, at the end of the day, we will be able to determine whether or not vote buying was actually carried out.

During the governorship election on March 18, Adebutu has accused the Police Force of covering up an investigation into allegations of vote buying and electoral violence made against Abiodun and the APC.

The PDP candidate also accused Abiodun and the APC of using N3 billion of state funds to induce voters and thugs to disrupt elections in several parts of the state. This accusation was made in reference to Abiodun.

Adebutu further asserted that Abiodun and APC are attempting to obstruct justice by intimidating and harassing him, and that they are using the police to do so.

The following is an excerpt from the statement that was included: “We have petitioned the Nigerian Police for the past six weeks, but we are surprised why the police have not opened up an investigation into our petition against Abiodun and the APC on the votes bought by them.”

It has been reported virtually everywhere in the media that Governor Dapo Abiodun bribed voters with money from taxpayers. Because of this, they are covering up all of the shenanigans, and they have prevented the police from doing their job.

“We are calling on the state’s Inspector General of Police to please, in the interest of the good people of Ogun State, allow this petition to see the light of day. They should not cover it up, and they should not suppress it.

“We are aware of all the steps that the Governor has been taking in order to prevent all of these investigations from being conducted.

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“We are appealing to the IGP to expeditiously allow a thorough investigation into how Dapo Abiodun used approximately N3 billion of taxpayer money to buy votes in Ogun State with the assistance of One Card limited,” said the organisation.