Ogun politician and governorship candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, has been released from the custody of the Department of State Services.
The secret police had on Monday evening arrested and detained Adebutu over alleged disturbances during the local government elections held on November 16, 2024, in which the All Progressives Congress won all seats.
Adebutu on Tuesday, confirmed his release in a statement he signed.
He described the allegations as baseless and the arrest as an attempt to silence him.
“At about 7am, Tuesday, 19th November 2024, I was released by the Department of State Services in Abeokuta following an invitation to answer to various spurious accusations all arising from the November 16 local government election in Ogun State.
“Very sadly, the allegations were so baseless that it became clear that their purpose was to silence me as a voice of the opposition. My contention that those elections were not free and fair is my fundamental right to free speech and free thought.
“My thinking that the local government should have financial autonomy that can only be enforced by free and fair elections is germane to our development. Mr President, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, shares the same view as mine which shows it is not a partisan position but a nationalistic one.
“However, because of the particular situation of Ogun State over the last five years which I shall publish shortly, desperation has set in to emasculate the third tier of government completely, this is the struggle for our development”, Adebutu said.
The PDP chieftain, however, commended the DSS for being professional in their engagement with him, saying, “I seize this opportunity to appreciate our institutions as they gradually continue to grow, I must say I am pleasantly surprised by the professionalism and fairness the Department of State Services has treated this matter to date, particularly, during my stay in their office.”
He also hailed the judiciary for the forthright judgment delivered by the state high court on Friday, 15th November 2024 in a suit marked AB/784/2024, which was filed for the purpose of excluding the PDP from participating in the local government elections.
Adebutu said, “I thank all stakeholders, well-wishers and for that matter, non-well-wishers because together, we must move the narration forward and arrive at good governance.”
The government had in a statement accused Adebutu of using illegal policemen to perpetrate violence during the election at Iperu.
These police officers were alleged to have shot at the newly elected Vice Chairman of the Ikenne Local Government, Mohammed Efuwape and another voter simply identified as Biola.
Adebutu, during a press briefing on Monday, however, accused Governor Abiodun of using both the military and the police as well as armed hoodlums to unleash terror on the opposition members during the elections.
