The All Progressives Congress chapter in Ogun State has welcomed Oladipupo Adebutu, the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate for governor in 2023, back to the nation.
Adebutu was back in the United Kingdom for almost seven months.
He was ordered to give himself up to the authorities and defend himself against the Federal Government’s preferred claims of vote-buying and money-laundering by the Ogun APC.
In a statement released on Tuesday in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State, the APC made the demand through Olusola Blessed, its assistant publicity secretary.
In a letter dated April 16, 2023, and signed by Muhammad Babakura, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, the Criminal Investigation Department of the police in Abeokuta invited the PDP candidate to respond to a case of conspiracy, electoral offences, and money laundering received from the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution of the Federation. The ruling party claimed that the candidate had left the country “in suspicious circumstances.”
The party continued by pleading with Adebutu to follow the right way and report to the authorities.
“We welcome Adebutu back to his fatherland if it is true that he has been away from the long arm of the law since April of this year under the pretext of a medical vacation,” the party declared.
Additionally, we implore him to surrender to law enforcement and refute the accusations of vote-buying and money laundering made against him in the March 18, 2023, gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections, for which a few of his party’s members and agents have already been charged.
The statement recalled that on December 9, 2023, the Ogun State PDP disclosed the identities of its membersโOgunbona Hammed, Tiramisu Waliu, Egunsola Owolabi, Moliki Badmus, and Sanni Adejokeโwho were accused of purchasing votes by the federal government.
The suspects, according to PDP, ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ณ๐ถ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ธ ๐๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐จ๐ฆncy ๐ช๐ฏ various locations around the state during ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ 18 2023 g๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ญ๐บโ๐ด ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏs, following which ATM cards allegedly meant for vote buying were found on them, adding that Adebutuโs name featured prominently in the police investigation and the subsequent charges by the Federal Government against the suspects.
According to the statement, “He should have the honour to turn himself in to the police, as promised by his lawyers in the letter dated May 2, 2023.”
“He should also keep his court date and let the Federal Government to serve him with the court documents regarding the vote-buying and money-laundering allegations.
“Perhaps Adebutu would have shown up to be served with court documents and tried with others at the subsequent hearing.
“In February 2024, the PDP members who have already been charged with vote-buying and money laundering will continue their trial before Honourable Justice Abiodun Akinyemi of the Ogun State High Court, Abeokuta.”
