Oladotun Hassan, the lawyer who intiated the police probe into the alleged discrepancies in the academic credentials of Ondo state governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has maintained his stand on the authenticity of the probe.
Hassan, in a fresh petition to the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, accused a Deputy Inspector of Police, Sylvester Alabi, of attempting to destroy the report.
It will be recalled that the police force spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, has disowned the report, stating that Deputy Commissioner of Police Tahir Usman, who supervised the probe, lacked the authority to conduct such an investigation.
But in his petition, tagged, ‘Report of an attempt by DIG Sylvester Alabi to tamper with police report and to obstruct the course of justice, Hassan said:
“We are constrained to bring to your attention the unwholesome act of D.I.G Sylvester Alabi on an issue bordering on the certificate forgery, perjury, misrepresentation of facts brought to your exalted office in 2nd June 2023 and after thorough investigation for which a police report was given to us upon request under the Freedom of Information Act, sometime in 15th February 2024.
“Today, the 5th of April, 2024, we were inaudated with a news report with ref. no.CZ. 5300/FPRD/FHQ/ABJ/VOL6/148 dated 5th April 2024 issued by ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters on behalf of the Nigeria Police Force.
“Sir, the true position is that our law firm, by petition, invited your exalted office to investigate a case of certificate forgery, perjury, and criminal misrepresentation against Mr. Lucky Ayedatiwa, which petition graciously approved for investigation.
“Based upon the said approval, your men led by DCP Tahir Usman swung into action and diligently investigated the maiter and found it as a fact that the allegations are true. We thereafter made a formal request based on the spirit and letters of the Freedom of Information Act to the DIG, FCIB, Abuja, which request was granted and a copy of the police report was issued to us. Let me use this medium to salute the courage and the dexterity of the officers who carried out the investigation; we recommend that they ought to and should be commended.
“Based on the Police Report, a letter done to the National Leadership of the All Progressives Congress, and the President and Commander-in-chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is the leader of the party to act on the report so that the party would avoid the pitfalls of what happened in Bayelsa State chapter of the party in the governorship election.
“It is instructive to note that since the information was made public to the leadership of the APC, Mr. Lucky Ayedatiwa instead of coming out to explain how he sat and got a WAEC O level certificate in 1982 from a school that was founded in 1980 which admitted to the police that it was accredited to conduct its first WAEC May/June examinations in 1985, he has been busy trying to compromise the integrity of the Nigeria Police Force, in order to prejudice the outcome of the report of the screening Committee of the APC.
“In concert with him in the nefarious act of trying to compromise the integrity of the Nigeria Police Force is the DIG Sylvester Alabi, who we are told have been intimidating and harrasing your gallant and diligent officers who carried a thorough investigation into the matter to the extent of issuing them queries.
“We have been reliably informed that D.I.G. Sylvester Alabi has confiscated the file and all other documents pertaining to the investigation with a view to tampering with the earlier findings by cooking up a new police report favourable to Mr. Lucky Ayedatiwa.
“This act of the D.I.G. Sylvester Alabi, to say the least, is most reprehensible and has given us the reasonable belief that DIG Sylvester Alabi’s action is borne out of some financial inducement which we urge you to investigate without delay, sir.
“DIG Sylvester Alabi has since confirmed our apprehensions by causing the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, to issue this statement.
“We therefore by this letter urge you to without delay set up a machinery to investigate this unwholesome act of the DIG Sylvester Alabi with a view to halting the harassment and intimidation of the gallant officers that at the risks their lives conducted a thorough investigation in the matter for which the Nigeria Police Force should be proud.
“We are also inviting you sir, to retrieve the case file from the DIG Sylvester Alabi before he does any damage to the case file and by extension to the integrity and image of the Nigeria Police Force under your watch.
“We also invite the IGP to order a thorough investigation into this unwholesome acts of the DIG Sylvester Alabi and his cohorts with a view to unravelling the facts surrounding the issuance of of the press statement made my ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi on behalf of the Police.”
Meanwhile, a security expert has shared his opinion on the police report and the statement by the force spokesperson.
Seun Omotosho, a security expert of many years experience, said:
“What the police spokesperson failed to say in his statement is whether the report is genuine or not. I would advise that the police address the points raised in the report. They should also tell the world if a probe was indeed done and what the findings of the probe are.”
