Ekiti police arraign former speaker, three others over disputed PDP secretariat

By Boye Oyeyemi –

The Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Ekiti State Police Command on Wednesday arraigned former speaker and acting governor, Tunji Odeyemi, alongside three others over an alleged dispute involving the PDP secretariat in Ajilosun, Ado-Ekiti.

Others arraigned with Odeyemi include Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, state secretary Mr Kole Abiodun, and Mr Gani Salau, personal media aide to the PDP governorship candidate, Dr Oluwole Oluyede.

The case was brought before a magistrate’s court in Ado-Ekiti.

The police reportedly invited the party officials to the RRS office on Old Iyin Road, where a petition was read, accusing them of vandalism, conspiracy, theft and illegal invasion of a property said to belong to Adebutu Kensington.

The petition, allegedly authored by Barristers Falade and Ariyo Afolabi, claimed the Ajilosun property was owned by Ladi Adebutu, the PDP’s 2023 Ogun State governorship candidate. Odeyemi and Ogundipe, however, maintained that the PDP purchased and developed the land, promising to provide supporting documents.

Police conducted an on-the-spot assessment of the secretariat and requested written statements from the party officials. After several hours, stringent bail conditions were reportedly set, including sureties who are level 16 civil servants for each principal officer.

Following interventions by lawyers and prominent individuals, the bail conditions were revised, and the four were released around 9 p.m., with instructions to appear in court the following morning instead of meeting the commissioner of police.

Reacting to the arraignment, the PDP’s counsel in Ekiti, Owoseeni Ajayi, condemned the police action, describing the matter as a civil dispute. He insisted that ownership issues should be resolved in a civil court, not through criminal charges, and expressed confidence that the judicial process would clarify the secretariat’s ownership.