Ebun Francis|
The Nigeria police force on Monday said it arrested and detained Ademola Adeleke, the lawmaker representing Osun west senatorial district in connection with ongoing criminal investigation against him.
Frank Mba, force spokesman, gave the clarification following arrest of the lawmaker and the PDP governorship candidate in the 2018 governorship election in Osun state.
According to the Force PPRO, the Ede born politician will be charged to court on Tuesday.
Adeleke, was detained earlier on Monday by the police authorities in Abuja after he had gone to honour police invitation.
Mba said: “Senator Adeleke is currently in police custody. He was taken into custody in the evening of today 6th May, 2019 in connection with ongoing criminal investigations touching on his person.
“Meanwhile, in the best tradition of natural justice and fair hearing, he has already been served with the relevant charge sheet containing his alleged offences in the presence of his Attorneys. He will be arraigned in a competent court of law tomorrow, 7th May, 2019.”
Meanwhile the Adeleke campaign organisation has reacted to the arrest of the Senator.
In a statement shortly after his arrest and detention, it accused the police of working for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The statement read in part, “The principal of the secondary school attended by Senator Adeleke testified through affidavit before Bwari High Court that the school indeed issued the testimonial. WAEC equally testified that the Senator sat for the examination. For the Police to revive this old clarified issue confirms political vendetta.”
In its reaction, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday night said the arrest of the lawmaker is part of a plot to poison him.
PDP spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement, described the senator’s arrest and detention as highly provocative, an invitation to anarchy and recipe for a very serious crisis not only in Osun but also in the judiciary and the nation as a whole.
The statement said, “The arrest and detention of Senator Adeleke is a direct act of violence against our laws, the institution of the judiciary and the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
“This is part of the grand plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to coerce Senator Adeleke to relinquish the mandate that was freely given to him by the people of Osun state, which was further established by the election petition tribunal.
“The plot is to drag Senator Adeleke before an ostensibly compromised magistrate court, over the same issues of alleged forged school testimonial that is already before the Federal High Court, with a view to using such corridor to secure a stampeded trial and hurried conviction, and put him out of circulation, over trump-up charges.
“The heinous calculation by the APC is to ensure that Senator Adeleke is not free to be sworn in as governor of Osun state as they know he will surely obtain justice and retrieve his stolen mandate at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
“The police arrested Senator Ademola on the guise of an invitation despite the direct orders of the Federal High Court, restraining it or its agents from arresting and detaining him on account of statement of result and testimonial duly issued by the Ede Muslim Grammar School, Ede, pending the determination of the originating summons pending in the court.
“Senator Adeleke, as a law-abiding citizen, honoured an invitation by the police only for him to be arrested and detained in a dingy facility in Maitama, in direct affront to the order of the Federal High Court.
“The PDP holds that any arraignment of Senator Adeleke in a magistrate court, for a matter that is already being heard by the Federal High Court, is a calculated plot to cause crisis in the judicial system, enmesh the matter in unnecessary controversy as a pathway to truncate the course of justice in his matter.
“The PDP, therefore, demands forthwith, the immediate and unconditional release of Senator Adeleke by the police.
“This demand is predicated on fears already in the public space that there are plots by certain elements to poison him in detention.
Leave a Reply