The Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Adewale Egbedun, has alleged that the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Teslim Igbalaye, was arrested after laughing when the state Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, was booed during a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
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‎The allegation comes a day after the Osun State Police Command announced the arrest of Mr Igbalaye and five other individuals. Police said officers recovered N4.8 million in cash, a Dynabook laptop, a photocopy machine, a printer, two voter cards and a voter register covering Wards 1 to 15 from the SSG’s residence.
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‎Reacting on Thursday, Mr Egbedun described the arrest as both disturbing and embarrassing, accusing the police commissioner of abusing his office.
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‎According to the speaker, he, the deputy governor and the SSG sat together throughout the INEC stakeholders’ meeting and witnessed members of the audience jeer at Mr Gotan while he addressed participants.
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‎He claimed that after returning to his seat, the police commissioner looked towards where they were seated, at which point the SSG laughed.
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‎Mr Egbedun further alleged that Mr Gotan immediately placed several phone calls before ordering the SSG’s arrest.
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‎He said the SSG later received information that armed police officers had surrounded his residence, prompting him to leave the meeting before its conclusion.
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‎The speaker said he later contacted Mr Igbalaye, who informed him that he had been invited to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) after police reportedly found N4 million and two voter cards belonging to members of his political party during a meeting held within his compound.
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‎Questioning the police action, Mr Egbedun argued that the allegation did not justify inviting or attempting to arrest a senior government official.
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‎The lawmaker also recounted what he described as his own difficult encounters with the police commissioner, alleging that Mr Gotan once withdrew police officers assigned to him despite intelligence reports of a planned attack on his residence.
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‎According to him, his security team had been placed on alert after receiving credible information that suspected APC thugs intended to attack his home. However, he claimed the commissioner directed all officers attached to him to report to the police headquarters for questioning.
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‎Mr Egbedun said he challenged the directive during a phone conversation with the commissioner, insisting he would neither abandon his home nor be intimidated.
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‎He maintained that he had no intention of leaving Osun State because of threats or intimidation, adding that every wrongful action would eventually attract consequences.
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‎The speaker further accused Mr Gotan of creating tension in the state, alleging that he had also received intelligence suggesting that some police officers were plotting to implicate and arrest him.
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‎Despite advice from several people to leave the state for his safety, Mr Egbedun said he remained determined to stay, expressing confidence that justice would prevail.
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‎He called on the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, to intervene in the matter and redeploy Mr Gotan from Osun State.
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‎Mr Egbedun argued that residents of the state deserved policing that was professional, impartial and guided by the rule of law, alleging that the commissioner’s leadership had subjected many people to intimidation and hardship.