The Ogun State Police Command has summoned Ladi Adebutu, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the 2023 elections, to its headquarters in Abeokuta.
This summons is unrelated to the alleged disturbances during the local government elections held on 16 November 2024, in which the All Progressives Congress secured all seats.
Although the Command has yet to confirm the development, reports suggest that Adebutu remains in custody at the Police Command headquarters in the Ogun State capital.
He is accused of allegedly recruiting approximately 40 unauthorised police officers from Lagos and organising PDP thugs to disrupt the local government election.
This latest summons follows shortly after operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) interrogated the PDP governorship candidate.
Following his release on Tuesday, Adebutu described the allegations as baseless and the arrest as an attempt to suppress his voice.
“At about 7 am on Tuesday, 19 November 2024, I was released by the Department of State Services in Abeokuta, having been invited to respond to various unfounded accusations stemming from the 16 November local government election in Ogun State,” Adebutu stated in a personally signed statement.
“Regrettably, the allegations were so groundless that it became apparent their intent was to silence me as an opposition voice. My assertion that those elections were neither free nor fair is my fundamental right to freedom of speech and thought,” he stated.
“My belief that local governments should have financial autonomy, enforceable only through free and fair elections, is vital to our development. President Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, shares this perspective, demonstrating that it is not a partisan stance but a nationalistic one.”