From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has denied involvement in the case of Dr Rahmon Adedoyin, who was convicted for the murder of Obafemi Awolowo University Master’s student, Timothy Adegoke.
A statement by the spokesperson to Governor Adeleke, Olawale Rasheed on Sunday, said the claim that the government is after the Chief Judge, Justice Oyebola Adepele-Ojo, because she defied the governor’s order not to jail the hotelier is untrue.
Adeleke has thereby directed the state law officers to prosecute anybody peddling such defamatory and libelous publications, saying such fake news has no foundation in truth or reality.
Rasheed said, “The truth which the public must be aware of is that Mr Governor is being blackmailed with the Adedoyin case for refusing to shield and protect the Chief Judge, his town woman, from a corruption probe.
“The blackmail is a falsehood without any foundation in truth. Chief Adedoyin is not and has never, in whatever form, been a friend of the Adelekes.
“Secondly, neither the Governor nor his family had any contact or interference in the Adedoyin case while it lasted. From the beginning to the end, no member of the Adeleke family was involved in any way in the legal process.
“Thirdly, Adedoyin was never in any way involved with the PDP, the party of the Governor. If anything, Adedoyin was a strong APC loyalist and an ally of the past Governor of Osun State.
“What is more, throughout the trial, Adedoyin’s legal team was manned by prominent APC lawyers from the beginning to the end. No single PDP lawyer was involved with the Adedoyin team.
“We affirm that the crisis rocking the state judiciary has to do with a series of petitions from judicial officials on the alleged misconduct of the Chief Judge. On each occasion, those petitions always ended up unprocessed over deliberate blackmail with the Adedoyin matter until recent action by the State Assembly.
“The Governor’s sin is his consistent refusal to accept overtures to protect his kinswoman, the Chief Judge, from probe on alleged corruption. Mr Governor has always maintained his ground that if as a Governor he is not immune from accountability questions, why should he use his office to protect another official because of blood or town kinship? With all sense of responsibility, we declared that neither Governor Adeleke nor any member of his family has anything to do with the travails of the Chief Judge.
“The Governor’s refusal to shield his town people from the corruption probe, including the Chief Judge, is largely responsible for the failed attempt to blackmail the Governor with the Adeoyin case. We reject the shameful linkage between alleged corruption within the judiciary and the Adedoyin matter. Public officials are not immune from accountability issues.
“We assert strongly that the Governor is not in any way linked with either the petition against the Chief Judge or the infamous Adedoyin case. The Number One Citizen will not use his office to shield anybody from accountability questions even if that person is from his family,” Rasheed said.