‘They Plan To Arrest Me Too’ — Osun Speaker Alleges After SSG’s Detention

Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Adewale Egbedun, has alleged that the state Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, is plotting to implicate and arrest him ahead of the August 15 governorship election.

Egbedun made the allegation while reacting to the arrest and detention of the Secretary to the State Government, Teslim Igbalaye, and five others by the Osun State Police Command over alleged electoral offences.

The police had announced that officers recovered N4.81 million, a voter register, two Permanent Voter Cards, a laptop, a photocopy machine and a printer during a raid on a residence linked to the SSG.

In a statement on Thursday, Egbedun described Igbalaye’s arrest as an abuse of power and claimed he had received intelligence over the past two weeks suggesting that the commissioner planned to target him.

“For the past two weeks, I have received information suggesting that some of his officers have been moving around, allegedly planning and strategising on how to implicate and arrest me,” he said.

The Speaker claimed his disagreement with the police commissioner began after he confronted him over an alleged plot by political thugs to attack his residence.

He further alleged that the commissioner later ordered all police officers attached to him to report to his office for questioning, a move he described as intimidation.

According to Egbedun, he refused advice from supporters to leave Osun for his safety, insisting he would remain in the state despite the alleged threats.

He also rejected the allegations against the SSG, claiming Igbalaye’s arrest followed an incident at an Independent National Electoral Commission stakeholders’ meeting in Osogbo.

Egbedun alleged that the commissioner was booed by some attendees during the meeting and noticed the SSG laughing after returning to his seat.

He claimed the commissioner immediately made several telephone calls and that he warned Igbalaye he was about to be arrested.

According to him, the SSG later received a call informing him that police officers were waiting at his residence before he was subsequently detained.

The Speaker called on the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, to intervene and investigate what he described as intimidation and abuse of power.

The Osun State Police Command had not issued any response to Egbedun’s latest allegations as of the time of filing this report.