Adewale Egbedun, the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, has contested the Osun State Police Command’s account of the arrest of Teslim Igbalaye, the Secretary to the State Government, claiming that the action was driven more by personal retaliation than by the police’s official justifications.
According to Naija News, Egbedun accused Ibrahim Gotan, the state commissioner of police, of ordering the SSG’s detention after he was jeered by the public during an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) stakeholders’ meeting.
In a personally signed statement released on Thursday, the Speaker made the accusation.
Egbedun claimed to have gone to the INEC stakeholders’ meeting with Igbalaye and the Deputy Governor, where the alleged arrest-causing incident took place.
He claimed that the commissioner was made fun of by the crowd when he spoke to them and then went back to his seat.
“We all saw the regrettable incident where Osun State residents jeered Commissioner Gotan while he was on the podium. He went straight back to his seat and turned to face us. The SSG laughed at that point, according to Egbedun.
He said Nigerians should be concerned about this development because it is a misuse of authority.
The Speaker claimed that shortly after the incident, he noticed the police commissioner making multiple phone calls, which made him suspicious.
The next thing I saw was Commissioner Gotan picking up his phone and making several calls. “I turned to the SSG and said, ‘The Commissioner of Police has just ordered your arrest,’ based on what I saw,” he added.
Egbedun claimed that minutes later, Igbalaye received a call alerting him to the presence of police officers at his home, confirming his suspicion.
The SSG got a call a short while later telling him that police were at his house waiting for him. He got up right away and left the event, leaving myself and the Deputy Governor behind,” he continued.
Speaker: SSG Invited Regarding Recovered Items
According to the Speaker, Igbalaye subsequently told him that he had been invited to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in response to claims that police had found cash and voter cards in his home.
According to Egbedun, “He told me that he had been invited to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) because the police allegedly found two voter cards and ₦4 million belonging to members of his political party who were meeting within his compound.”
“I genuinely don’t see how inviting or trying to arrest a public official of his caliber was justified by such an accusation.”
