By Kingsley Omonobi
ABUJA — LEAD counsel to the Action Congress governorship candidate in the April 2007 election in Osun State, Chief Kola Awodein (SAN), was yesterday quizzed for over eight hours by the Special Investigation team set up by Inspector-General of Police, Mike Okiro to unravel those behind the forged Police report that was tendered at the Court of Appeal by the AC candidate, Engr. Rauf Aregbesola.
Sources told Vanguard that Awodein who was accompanied by Chief Akin Olujimi, former Attorney-General of the Federation who stood as counsel to Chief Awodein arrived the Police headquarters at about 9am yesterday and they were still with the police as at the time of going to press.
Chief Olujimi’s presence it was further gathered, followed fears by Engr. Aregbeola’s camp to the fact that the lead counsel may be detained over the matter as a result of the suspected dilly-dallying allegedly employed by the lawyers over the matter.
It will be recalled that before reporting to the police for investigation yesterday, the Police had invited the Action Congress legal team over the forgery matter but they had one way or the other failed to appear giving excuses which led to the police authorities preparing other means to get them for interrogation.
The Police had planned to swoop on certain persons in both Lagos and Osun states in connection with their refusal to appear before the investigation team.
The investigations followed the Appeal Court judgment which ordered a retrial of the case brought by the AC candidate, Rauf Aregbesola, challenging the decision of the Osun State Elections tribunal to declare Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola winner.
Chief Oyinlola had petitioned President Umaru Yar’Adua over the discovery that the Police report tendered in the case at the Appeal Court which swung the judgment in favour of the AC candidate may have been forged.
Subsequently, the Inspector-General of Police, Mike Okiro himself came out to say the report was actually fake as it did not follow Police standard of similar reports while it was also discovered that the authors of the report were non-existent in Police books.
Having studied the petition of Prince Oyinlola and got a brief on the matter from the Inspector-General to the effect that the Police report was a fake, Mr. President, according to Vanguard sources, on May 26, ordered a police investigation into the origin of the report.
The terms of the memo ordering Okiro to investigate the matter was simple, “Those Responsible for the fake report which was submitted at the Appeal Court should be fished out”.
Investigation into the forgery matter almost hit a brick wall as those invited by the Police to shed light on the matter started playing a hide-and-seek game.
It is unimaginable that it is becoming increasingly hard for Nigerians especially in leadership position to come to term with the reality that life, beyond attending pepper soup joints, building castles in the air for personal aggrandisement with stolen fund, engaging in all related activities called ‘ENJOYMENT’ is more of spiritual matter. Some people are even taking solace in the fact that when they die, that is the end. I want to say to them, that is not the end. We die to part with the physical body while the spirit returns to the creator-God. What goes round must come round. Cut a tree in the forest, it sprouts again. When a banana tree die, it replaces itself by its offspring. Ditto for human persons.
The story of Rauf Aregbesola is a reminder of former Governor Ahmed Tinubu’s cabinet in Lagos State. All the commissioners except our own son from Ekiti, Bamidele Opeyemi seems to be grateful to God. This in the sense that they all wanted to take over as Governor at the expiration of Tinubu’s term. If Rauf Aregbesola has performed creditably well while serving as commissioner in Lagos, one would ask while this inordinate ambition to the extent of forging a document in order to become a governor. I am sure if any dust had been raised when he was to be made a commissioner in Lagos regarding his state of origin, he would have presented a document to back up his origin as a Lagosian. Having escaped with that, he thought it would be easy to dislocate a retired military incumbent Governor. If we may ask, how did he get all the funds he was lavishing during the election? Has he tampered with the money in his ministry as commissioner? These are the questions he should be answering by now but alas, we are in a country where anything goes.
I want to encourage the police to deepen the on going forgery investigation up to his activities as Lagos State commissioner. Certainly he has not just started this criminal behaviour. Making him a scapegoat will at least teach others in his similar frame of mind to begin to appreciate God and a lesson to know it is time to build a healthy nation.
Naija people,why can;t you be patient and wait for issues to be taken care of by those in authority.you like to run your leaders down too much.imagine if the police report matter was brought up by the opposition and the govt.refused to take action.it is u the same people that would be complaining.How come no officer has come forward from the entire force to say well i am the one that sign the report or because they are opposition to the govt. they can do whatever they like because people like u will jump to their defence.It is simple come and explain how u got the police report.
PDP and its police sef. This report has been tendered since two years when this contest started. It took only the Appeal Court ordering a retrial of the heavilly manipulated tribunal case for Oyinlola and co to know that the report was fake? And that woke the slumbering president and his party to launch into quick action. Pray, what about the Osungate scandal involving illicit phone exchange between the Osun tribunal and Oyinlola’s lawyers? Why is our dear sleeping president and his PDP police of fraud not doing anything about it? But Oyinlola and co should know that if they succeed in denying the police report that has been on the shelf for the past two years, they need more than a fraudulent police leadership and a mischievuous presidency and an evil party to survive the forensic report about the Osun election. They should be ready for a greater battle ahead.
PDP are at it again,using Okiro to stifle the opposition of the popular Aregbesola.They did it in the re-run election at Ekiti,using even the once ‘immaculate’ Akunyili. Its time we take to the street, a la Iran, or the next election would be terrible and any litigation arising from it treated as treason; as ‘they’ are already doing.
May the opposition NEVER die,but remain to save we poor Nigerians,from the wicked hawks pretending to be leaders!!!!
It is on record that Mr Okiro -stated that he does know the number of serving policemen under his command. How could it be ascertained hat the police officer in the so-called disputed/forged document is not a serving policeman ?