PDP’s Adebutu Drags EFCC, IGP, AGF, SSS to Court Over N2 Billion Vote-Buying Allegation

The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 governorship election in Ogun State, Oladipupo Adebutu has dragged the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, the Inspector-General of Police(IGP), Usman Baba, the Director of the State Security Services (SSS), Yusuf Bichi, and the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, to court over an alleged N2 billion vote-buying case.

Raye24reporters understands that Adebutu confirmed that he sued heads of the above agencies over the allegations of vote buying levelled against him.

His reaction follows reports that his Campaign Organisation was involved in vote buying during the electioneering period.

Reacting to the allegation, the Media Director of the Ladi Adebutu Campaign Organisation, Afolabi Orekoya, on Tuesday, said, “It is just a petition.”

Orekoya in a statement, however, denied the allegation of being involved in a N2 billion vote-buying scheme, describing the claims as baseless.

Adebutu’s aide said the claims were desperate attempts by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state and the governor-elect, Dapo Abiodun, to undermine their strong case before the Tribunal.

It would be recalled that the PDP in the state had challenged the victory of Abiodun and the APC before the election petition tribunal, following which Adebutu has come out on a few occasions to allege he has not gotten peace ever since he filed the petition to challenge Abiodun’s victory in the state.

Orekoya in the statement said “The unsubstantiated claims that a certain “PDP Chieftain in trouble as police uncover shocking N2 billion vote-buying scheme” by some online news platforms led by Premium Times are nothing but further evidence that Ogun APC and Dapo Abiodun have decided to go for cheap blackmail after realising that our candidate and PDP’s petition before the Tribunal is unequivocally tight.

“This has not come as a surprise to the Ladi Adebutu Campaign Organisation because, after failing in their efforts to coax, intimidate, and harass the PDP Candidate, Hon (Dr) Oladipupo Adebutu, and his family to withdraw the petition despite pleas from their emissaries, delegations, and offer of monetary compensation; the APC and its candidate, at the March 18th governorship election, Mr Dapo Abiodun, have resorted to blackmail, media trial, depravity, and malfeasance in an attempt to buy public sentiment and confuse the Judiciary.

“Members of the public will recall that immediately after the election, Mr Tunde Oladunjoye, the Ogun APC Publicity Secretary, in an attempt to force Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu to drop the petition against his party (APC), claimed on a Channels TV show that one of the many humanitarian gestures of the Adebutu family was for other purposes and intent.

“For clarity’s sake, the fact of the burial of the Adebutu matriarch, Late Dame Caroline Adebutu, on February 11th, 2023, is in the public domain, and it will be unreasonable and unconscionable for anyone under the guise of paid reporting to attempt to twist the details.

“It should be noted by members of the public that this purported “interim report” of an investigation, which the APC also alluded to, which has not been concluded, is being preempted by them. It is, therefore, glaring that the effort of Mr. Abiodun and his party to act as whistleblowers for the police is a deliberate and mischievous attempt to blackmail our principal.

“We hereby call on the police authorities to open an investigation into how “explicit” details of the interim report of an uncompleted investigation were leaked to the press, even though the petition leading to this investigation is laced with political undertones.”