Mr. Ladi Adebutu, the 2023 People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ogun State, has been released from Department of State Services (DSS) custody.
Persecondnews reported that DSS arrested and detained Adebutu on Monday evening.
The arrest allegedly relates to disturbances during the Ogun State local government elections held on November 16, 2024, where the All Progressives Congress (APC) secured all seats.
Adebutu confirmed his release from DSS custody in a statement he personally signed on Tuesday.
He described the allegations as baseless and the arrest as an attempt to silence him.
The statement said: “At about 7 am, Tuesday, 19th November 2024, I was released by the Department of State Services in Abeokuta following an invitation to answer to various spurious accusations all arising from the November 16 local government election in Ogun State.
“Very sadly, the allegations were so baseless that it became clear that their purpose was to silence me as a voice of the opposition.
“My contention that those elections were not free and fair is my fundamental right to free speech and free thought.
“My thinking that the local government should have financial autonomy that can only be enforced by free and fair elections is germane to our development.
“Mr. President, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu shares the same view as mine, which shows it is not a partisan position but a nationalistic one.
“However, because of the particular situation of Ogun State over the last five years, which I shall publish shortly, desperation has set in to emasculate the third tier of government completely; this is the struggle for our development.”
Author
Leave a comment