Daud Olatunji
In a startling turn of events, Wale Adedayo, the ousted Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government, finds himself confined within the formidable walls of Ibara Correctional Facility for a harrowing 48-hour period.
His predicament stems from the accusations leveled against him by the police.
PLATFORM TIMES gathered that Adedayo, besieged by adversity, will endure two long days of confinement within the facility, (from Tuesday to Thursday) facing not one but two severe charges.
PLATFORM TIMES gathered that the public holiday declared by the Federal Government on Wednesday, extended the hours to 48.
Magistrate A.K Araba, in a stern judicial stance, had initially extended a lifeline to Adedayo in the form of bail, setting the exorbitant sum of N2 million.
However, this bail came with stringent conditions – Adedayo was required to produce two “responsible and unwavering sureties” residing within the court’s jurisdiction. These individuals were further mandated to be esteemed property owners and to possess impeccable tax clearance certificates.
Regrettably, Adedayo’s attempt to secure his release fell short, leaving him incarcerated within the unforgiving walls of Ibara Correctional Facility, Abeokuta, pending the fulfillment of his bail conditions.
Though he eventually managed to perfect the terms of his bail, fate was unkind, and the magistrate’s office had already closed its doors, rendering his efforts in vain.
Recalled that there was a twist to the accusation and counter-accusation between Adedayo and Governor Dapo Abiodun over diversion of local government funds in Ogun State, the battle has shifted to court.
Adedayo was on Tuesday,morning arraigned at Isabo Magistrate Court in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
The two-count charge involved making false accusation against the Governor as well as engaging in a publication of the same nature, which the Police say, are unlawful acts.
Adedayo first raised the accusation in a public petition he addressed to one of the APC leaders in Ogun State and former governor from 1999 to 2003, Chief Olusegun Osoba, asking for his intervention on the matter.
Also, the former chairman, elected for a three-year tenure in 2021, invited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria’s graft agency, to wade into the dispute connected with Governor Abiodun’s alleged constant diversion of the monthly funds being paid to all the 20 LGs in the state by the federal government.
Though the Constitution provides for the sharing of the federal revenue to all the three tiers of government, local governments, however do not receive their shares directly unlike the other two.
The Constitution had provided for the Joint Allocation Account Committee (JAAC) composed of members from the state and local governments. It is JAAC that allocates the funds to the local governments.
Adedayo’s angst however was that JAAC’s habit was more of denying them their legitimate accruing monthly funds as more often than not the receive only “ZERO” allocations from it, meaning that they hardly received a kobo every month despite the money coming monthly into the joint purse from the federal government.
The accusation had caused a spat between him and the governor. In what was suspected to have had the underhand dealing of the governor and government, Adedayo was first invited and later detained by the State Security Service at his office in Oke-Imosan, Abeokuta.
Subsequently, he got walloped by his local government with the moving of his suspension which received the support of seven councillors out of the eleven in the council.
The Leader of the council, said the chairman had violated the Ogun State Local Government Laws 2006 and committed serious impeachable offences going by the law. No citation of the specific crimes committed or process followed was outlined in the public statement about the impeachment.
After the impeachment on September 14, the former chairman was arrested by the police in Ijebu-Ife. Moved to the State Police headquarters in Eleweran, Abeokuta, the reasons for the arrest and temporary restriction of his freedom were unclear.
The present charges, reportedly, were against the background of a petition by the state government against the former local government chairman.
Adedayo was said to have been accused of wilfully and deliberately undertaking the “circulation of falsehood, false report….” capable of causing “threat to life, and interference with the exercise of executive function.”
The petition is said to have been signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Tokunbo Talabi.
It is not too clear which sections or parts of the criminal code of Ogun State the police is invoking for his trial. During his appearance in court on Tuesday, however, the suspect’s counsel, Kayode Akinsola, applied for bail, which was not objected to by the prosecutor, Inspector Olaide Rolly.
The trial has been adjourned to October 20, 2023.
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