Osun State Chapter of Conference of Nigeria Political Party (CNPP) has
rejected the verdict of the state House of Assembly passed on Justice
Olamide Folaranmi Oloyede over her petition calling for credible and
thorough investigation into the alleged gross financial misconduct of
Mr. Rauf Aregbesola and his deputy, Mrs. Grace Laoye-Tomori.
In a statement signed on Thursday, August 6 by the Chairman of CNPP,
Pastor Popoola Olatunji and the Secretary, Prince Gbade Adelakun, the
association explained that the seven-member All Progressives Congress
(APC) House panel’s conclusion on the said matter was undemocratic,
devilish, bias, unfortunate, ungodly and anti-people.
“We strongly believe that the courageous and indomitable Justice
Oloyede is representing the voice of the voiceless and the oppressed
masses of Osun State and this voice cannot be silenced by tyrannical
rule of Mr. Aregbesola.
“Although Justice Oloyede committed an uncommon offence by choosing to
be on the side of the downtrodden people of the state, the outcome of
the so called investigation of the panel justified the earlier
prediction of various stakeholders in the state.
“We need to make it clear that the Assembly has misled millions of
Nigerians and international community on the matter over their claims
that the woman judge abandoned her petition, whereas she requested
through her lawyer, Mr. Lanre Ogunlesi (SAN) for the response of
Aregbesola which the rubber-stamp panel failed to produce.
“We urge the National Judicial Council (NJC) to disregard any letter
emanating from Aregbesola’s apologists especially from the State House
of Assembly calling for investigation of Justice Oloyede because the
judge in our opinion did not commit any offence except being on the
side of truth.
“As stakeholder, CNPP sees the action of the House of Assembly as a
clear attempt to cripple the voice of the opposition in the state and
we believe in the rights of individuals as stipulated in Section 39 of
the amended 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and
therefore any attempt to act otherwise might lead to further crisis in
the state.
“The world must know that opposition members are daily being attacked,
harassed and gagged by APC thugs and Aregbesola’s agent of terror
popularly called ‘State Boys’”, the statement said.
The state chapter of CNPP therefore called on the President Muhammadu
Buhari to quickly look into Osun State matter so as to assure the
people of the country and the international community that there “is
no sacred cow in the country and his handling of Osun issue will serve
as a litmus test to his campaign against corruption”.