The governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, on Wednesday visited the headquarters of the State Police Command to clear the air on the vote buying and money laundering allegations leveled against him by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Adebutu who arrived Eleweran, the command’s headquarters at 11.10 a.m. was accompanied by chieftains of the party, including a former governorship aspirant, Segun Sowunmi and went straight into the Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alamutu’s office.
Adebutu who travelled to the United Kingdom on a medical trip immediately after losing the governorship election arrived in Nigeria on Saturday evening.
The ruling APC had filed a petition against Adebutu and the PDP, accusing them of vote buying and money laundering during the Saturday, March 18 governorship election in the State.
Our correspondent gathered that, Adebutu’s visit was in response to the police invitation on the APC’s petition.
It was further gathered that, after 24 minutes meeting with the CP, Adebutu went to the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (CIID) and spent about 30 minutes.
Speaking with journalists shortly after his visit, Adebutu explained that he was at the command’s headquarters to clear the air on the petition written by the APC.
He described the allegations as frivolous and untrue, adding that, he visited the police on his free volition.
Adebutu said, “Some funny innuendos have been going around and I thought maybe we will clear the air, so I came here on my free volition to clear any frivolous petition written by the APC and their ilk’s. I have come and I’m happy that this institution (police) has done well, they have listened, they have taken records and I’m sure that this is the way to a better Nigeria.
“The frivolous allegations that Ladi Adebutu has been laundering his money. I don’t know how you can launder your personal wealth. That is the allegation against me by the APC, that I have laundered my money, that I have used my money to create empowerment for people that I feel compassionate about, Nigerians that are in need, that I have helped, that I will continue to help, especially when on this occasion, it was dictated by my late mother to be of help to women and children.
“We have done empowerment programmes and we will continue to do them and on January the 19th 2024 which marks one year of her passing away, we will be having special programmes again to continue these empowerment programmes as we have done over the years. But because these people (APC) lack empathy, they lack compassion for society, they trivialize and politicize everything, they have learnt to weaponize poverty and when they see anybody moving away from such a situation, they politicize this.
“I’m back in the country and I await them. All they were doing to disrupt the normal process of electioneering, we had elections, and the matter went through the courts, but that process they tried to truncate, to make sure the process will not be truncated we had to arrange our movement, the matter has arrived at the Supreme Court, and we are certain that we shall get justice.”