𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗕𝗨𝗧𝗨 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗚𝗘𝗗 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗬 𝗟𝗔𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 - COURT

 

The Ogun State High 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩 sitting in Abeokuta on Friday 8th September 2023 had 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝘿𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝘾𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙊𝙜𝙪𝙣 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙃𝙤𝙣(𝘿𝙧). 𝙊𝙡𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙥𝙪𝙥𝙤 𝘼𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜.

The High Court Judge, Justice Abiodun Akinyemi clarified the Counsel to the five defendants on a matter filed by the Federal Government on vote buying, 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙛 𝙂𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙮 𝙐𝙘𝙝𝙚, 𝙎𝘼𝙉 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝙤𝙣 𝙏𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙙𝙖𝙮, 7𝙩𝙝 𝘿𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯.

The Counsel, Chief Gordy Uche, SAN, told the Court that the report wrongly mentioned Adebutu who had not been invited for questioning nor served with any notice to have been charged with Money Laundering which was not in any matter before the honourable Court; 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙘𝙩 𝙛𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨. 

He mentioned that the fake report saying INEC which is not a party in the matter presented two witnesses and that a motorcycle was tendered before the Court was laughable and a total misrepresentation of Court proceedings.

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝘼. 𝘼𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙮𝙚𝙢𝙞 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙛𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙚.

In his words “𝙈𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙄 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨, 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙨𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.” 

Justice Akinyemi said further that “𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙗𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙛𝙪𝙡; 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙚, 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪”.

The matter filed by the Federal Government of Nigeria is a 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘝𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵  𝘖𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘢 𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥, 𝘛𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘺𝘶 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘶, 𝘌𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢 𝘖𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘪, 𝘔𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘪 𝘉𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪 𝘈𝘥𝘦𝘫𝘰𝘬𝘦.

It was gathered that 𝘖𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘢 𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥, 𝘛𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘺𝘶 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘶, 𝘌𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢 𝘖𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘪 𝘉𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘳𝘶𝘨 𝘓𝘢𝘸 𝘌𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘈𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘐𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘣𝘦𝘰𝘬𝘶𝘵𝘢 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 18𝘵𝘩 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 2023, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘺’𝘴 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.

Upon the arrest, 52 ATM cards were found on them which led to further interrogation. Upon interrogation, the suspects mentioned the names of four people regarded as their leaders who gave them the cards for an empowerment scheme. After interrogation by the NDLEA, they were transferred to the State Police headquarters on the same day.

In like manner, Sanni Adejoke was arrested by the Police on a motorcycle early in the morning of 18th March at Agbado in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State with the same ATM cards found on her and was equally transferred to State Police headquarters in Abeokuta the same day.

Following the findings by the Police which revealed that the suspects were members of the Peoples Democratic Party, the Gubernatorial Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party was thereafter listed for invitation by the Police on the matter.

You will recall that an interim Police report emerged sometime in May on the allegation of vote buying and later an updated Police report was also released to the media.

𝙐𝙥𝙤𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧.

𝙁𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 on the matter 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙙 that 𝙃𝙤𝙣(𝘿𝙧). 𝙊𝙡𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙥𝙪𝙥𝙤 𝘼𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙪 and the other four people mentioned in the course of interrogating the suspects 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 as at the time of this report.

The matter resumed hearing on Thursday, 7th December, 2023 with cross-examination of two witnesses presented by the Counsel to the Federal Government, Chief Rotimi Jacobs, SAN and so far a total of four witnesses have been cross-examined. The matter was adjourned till February 2024.