Alleged N2bn vote buying: Adebutu drags Malami, DSS, others to court

The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2023 general elections in Ogun State, Oladipupo Adebutu, has sued the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami; Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba; Director of the Department of State Services, Yusuf Bichi; and the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, over allegations of vote buying leveled against him.

Adebutu sought for an order in court barring the police and other agencies from arresting him over the allegations.

The spokesman, Ladi Adebutu Campaign Organisation, Afolabi Orekoya, confirmed this on Tuesday in Abeokuta.

Adebutu is being probed by the police over allegations of vote buying in the March 18, election to the tune of N2bn.

The police acted on the petition written by the state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yemi Sanusi, over the alleged vote buying.

However, an interim report of the probe has already indicted Adebutu, according to an online report.

On Tuesday, Adebutu called on the police authorities to investigate how the detail of the interim report of an uncompleted investigation was leaked to the press.

In a statement by his aide, Adebutu said, “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 pre-empted 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 a political undertone.”