By Imoleayo Oyedeyi

Adewale Egbedun, speaker of the Osun house of assembly, has alleged that Ibrahim Gotan, commissioner of police in the state, is planning to “implicate and arrest” him ahead of the forthcoming governorship election.

Egbedun was reacting to the arrest of Teslim Igbalaye, secretary to the Osun state government (SSG), and five others by operatives of the state police command over alleged vote-buying.

Igbalaye was detained on Wednesday night alongside five others after the police raided his private residence in Osogbo.

In a statement, Abiodun Ojelabi, police spokesperson in Osun, said N4.8 million and other electoral materials were recovered from a residence linked to the SSG.

The police spokesperson said other exhibits recovered included a Dynabook laptop, a photocopy machine, a printer, two voter cards, and a voter register covering wards 1 to 15.

Ojelabi said the recovery of the cash and the register containing voters’ details raised concerns over possible electoral offences and other criminal activities.

In a post on Thursday, Egbedun described Igbalaye’s arrest as an “abuse of power” by the police commissioner, which “should be a source of concern and embarrassment to every patriotic Nigerian”.

He alleged that he had received information in the past two weeks that the police commissioner was plotting to arrest him.

“For the past two weeks, I have received information suggesting that some of his officers have been moving around, allegedly planning and strategising on how to implicate and arrest me,” Egbedun claimed.

The speaker said his alleged disagreement with the police commissioner began after he confronted him over a reported plan by some political thugs to attack his residence.

“At one point, we received credible intelligence that some APC thugs were planning to attack my residence,” he claimed.

“My security personnel and I remained on high alert in anticipation of the attack. However, to my greatest surprise, my police orderly received a call from Commissioner Gotan directing that every police officer attached to me should report to his office for questioning that very day.”

Egbedun said he immediately called the commissioner, vowing not to bow to fear or intimidation.

“I made it abundantly clear that I would never abandon my state or my ancestral home because of anyone, particularly someone I regard as a stranger. I also reminded him that, ultimately, every act of wrongdoing attracts its own consequences,” he said.

The speaker said some of his supporters had advised him to leave his residence in the state for his safety following the alleged confrontation with the commissioner, but he rejected the suggestion.

“I have consistently maintained that I will not abandon Osun for anyone,” he said.

“If those behind these alleged plans decide to carry them out, I remain resolute in my belief that justice will ultimately prevail and that evil will never triumph over righteousness.”

‘I KNEW SSG WOULD BE ARRESTED’

The speaker also countered the police’s vote-buying allegations against the SSG, claiming that Igbalaye was arrested for laughing at the police commissioner during an event in Osogbo on Wednesday.

“The deputy governor, the secretary to the state government (SSG) and I were all present at the INEC stakeholders’ meeting, where we sat together throughout the proceedings,” he said.

“We all witnessed the unfortunate moment when Commissioner Gotan was booed while on the podium by citizens of Osun State. Immediately he returned to his seat, he looked directly towards us. At that moment, the SSG laughed.

“The next thing I observed was Commissioner Gotan picking up his telephone and making a series of calls. From what I saw, I turned to the SSG and said, ‘The Commissioner of Police has just ordered your arrest’.”

Egbedun said, as he predicted, the SSG received a telephone call a few minutes later informing him that police officers were waiting for him at his residence.

He said the SSG immediately left the event, leaving the deputy governor and him behind, only to later call and inform him that he had been detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Egbedun called on Tunji Disu, inspector-general of police, to urgently intervene and relieve the people of the state of what he described as “hardship and intimidation under the leadership” of the police commissioner.

Efforts to get official reaction from the Osun police command were not successful as of the time of filing this report.

The development comes amid heightened political tension ahead of the state’s governorship election scheduled for August 15.

In recent weeks, the political atmosphere in the state has become increasingly charged, with supporters of Ademola Adeleke, governor of Osun, who is seeking a second term on the platform of Accord, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) trading accusations and verbal attacks.

However, Adeleke said the people of the state would not succumb to any form of external interference or intimidation as the election draws near.

Source: TheCable