BY LAJA THOMAS
Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ogun State, Chief Dayo Soremi,  Thursday debunked media reports that he and four other persons allegedly forged signature to facilitate the substitution of the candidate for Remo Federal Constituency, Dave Salako, during the last general elections.

Soremi said the reports misrepresented the facts of the case, adding that the same police had in two different reports confirmed that the signature was Salako’s.

There were media reports that the Nigeria Police Force on Tuesday told an Abuja Senior Magistrate Court presided over by Oyebola Oyewunmi, where Soremi and four others – Semiu Shodipo, the Ogun State  PDP Secretary, Adeja Olokun, Abiodun Taiwo and Chief Olufemi Dehinsilu— are standing trial—that they allegedly forged the signature of Rep Dave Salako, to facilitate the substitution of his name from the Ogun PDP list.

At the resumption of the trial, a Chief Superintendent of Police, Adebowale Williams, told the court the handwriting analysis revealed that the purported signature of Salako on the letter of voluntary withdrawal submitted by Soremi and others to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, did not match his (Salako’s) signature. He said: All these facts are before the court.

“What actually played out at the resumed hearing on Tuesday was a confirmation of the suspected collusion between Salako and two policemen – Adewale Williams and Olufemi Ayodele.  Typical of Salako, it was meant to mislead the court and the unsuspecting members of the public.

“The truth of the matter is that Salako neither participated in the January 6th, 2011 National Assembly primaries nor was he a member of the party as at that date. He had defected to the Labour Party (LP) alongside, Senator Lekan Mustapha.” Soremi said already criminal and civil cases have been instituted against Salako at the Federal High Court in Abuja to clear his name