Vote Buying: Group Slams Adebutu Over Petition To IGP

A group, Ogun Integrity Vanguard (OIV) has charged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), candidate in the March 18 governorship election in Ogun State, Hon Oladipupo Adebutu, to present himself for trial instead of writing “frivolous petitions” to the police over his vote buying scandal.

Last week, the federal government filed charges of money laundering, vote buying and criminal conspiracy against Adebutu, a commercial bank and others over their attempt to bribe voters during election.

In a reaction yesterday to Adebutu’s petition to the inspector-general of police (IGP), OIV described as disturbing that after the federal government had investigated their vote buying plot and charged them to court, Adebutu and some accused members of the PDP in Ogun State were writing petitions to the IGP Usman Baba, asking him to investigate Governor Dapo Abiodun and the All Progressives Congress (APC), for vote buying too.

The group, in a statement signed by its secretary, Duro Thomas, and made available to LEADERSHIP, said, “It is common knowledge that following their alleged role in facilitating vote buying during the March 18 governorship polls in Ogun State, the federal government charged Hon Ladi Adebutu and a leading deposit money bank together with its managing director to court for conspiracy, bribery and money laundering.

“The charges, which were filed by the director, public prosecution of the Federation, M.B. Abubakar; the assistant chief state counsel, Aderonke Imana and senior state counsel, Bagudu Sani, on behalf of the attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, detailed how Adebutu and the co-accused “on or about 18th of March at Ibara, within the jurisdiction of court, did conspire among yourselves to corruptly give gifts in form of verve prepaid cards  which had inscribed on them ‘Dame Caroline Oladuni Adebutu Memorial Endorsement Scheme for Less Privileged’ in order to induce voters to endeavour the  return of PDP candidates during the gubernatorial and state assembly elections in Ogun State.”

Adebutu was further accused of providing 200,000 prepaid verve cards loaded with N10,000 each and inscribed with  the same name “for the purpose of corruptly influencing voters to vote for PDP candidates during the said elections.

“Given these incontrovertible facts, it is laughable that these people are desperately trying to push a counter narrative too late in the day. When did they realize that APC loaded cards to buy votes? There is nothing like that in the petition they filed.”

According to Thomas, when the PDP candidate took Governor Abiodun to the Ogun Election Petitions Tribunal over the outcome of the March 18 polls, he never pleaded for vote buying by Abiodun and APC as one of the grounds of his appeal.

He added that it is trite law that in an election case, as indeed all civil cases, parties are bound by their pleadings and the court is not a Father Christmas that would grant them what they never pleaded for.