The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, has rejected the allegations of vote-buying levelled against him by the Federal Government.
OsunDaily News reported that the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation had filed a suit against Adebutu and nine others over the allegation of money laundering and vote buying during the 2023 elections.
In a statement by the Media Director of his campaign organisation, Afolabi Orekoya on Wednesday, Adebutu said he had not been invited by the police nor served any court document regarding the suit.
He described the suit as an abuse of the court process and a plot by the state governor, Dapo Abiodun and the All Progressives Congress to distract the Tribunal from doing its job.
Adebutu also debunk the report that he travelled out of the country to evade police arrest, saying that he travelled on 25 April for his usual medical route check-up after the election.
The statement reads: “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.
“They (APC and Abiodun) are only trying to distract people and distract the judiciary from giving proper attention to the merit of the petition before them. They should allow the Tribunal to do their job, this is an abuse of court process, they should allow the Tribunal do their job and at the end of the day we will know who actually perpetrated vote buying or not.”
Adebutu has accused the Police Force of covering up an investigation into allegations of vote buying and electoral violence against Abiodun and the APC during the March 18 governorship election.
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.
Adebutu also alleged that Abiodun and APC are using the police to subvert justice by intimidating and harassing him.
The statement added: “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 is everywhere in the media that Governor Dapo Abiodun induced voters with taxpayers’ money. This is why they are covering up all the shenanigans and they have not allowed the police to do their job.
“We are calling on the IGP to please in the interest of the good people of Ogun State allow this petition to see the light of the day, they should not cover it up, they should not suppress it.
“We know all the moves the Governor has been making to ensure that all these investigations are not carried out.
“We are appealing to the IGP to speedily allow a thorough investigation into how Dapo Abiodun used about N3bn of taxpayers’ money to buy votes in Ogun State with the help of One Card limited.”
