Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday condemned the arrest and detention of its governorship candidate in the Osun State governorship election, Senator Ademola Adeleke, saying it was in total disregard for the extant order of the Federal High Court.
The party in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said Adeleke was arrested yesterday by the police in Abuja.
“This is highly provocative, an invitation to anarchy and recipe for a very serious crisis not only in Osun but also in the judiciary and our polity as a nation. 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),” PDP said.
The party stated: “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.”
It added that the plot is to drag 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 main opposition party further stated that the “heinous calculation” by the APC is to ensure that Adeleke is not free to be sworn in as governor of Osun State as the ruling party knows that he will surely obtain justice and retrieve his stolen mandate at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
PDP added: “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 said 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 demanded forthwith, the immediate and unconditional release of Senator Adeleke by the police, saying its demand is predicated on fears already in the public space that there are plots by certain elements to poison him in detention.
The PDP cautioned those playing the script of the APC with regard to Senator Adeleke to retrace their steps and allow the people of Osun State to move ahead with their preferred governor, adding that “nothing, not even these heinous plots, will subvert this reality.”
