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Accuses CP of Enabling Manipulation of Police Structure for Political Purposes
- Safiu Kehinde
The support group of Osun state governor, Ademola Adeleke, has slammed the state’s Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, over alleged partisanship and bias against the governor.
The group, under the aegis of Imole Accord Vanguard, accused Gotan of enabling manipulation of the Osun Police Command’s structure by rendering the police as willing tools for use by any political parties, especially the All Progressives Congress (APC).
As contained in a statement issued on Monday by the Imole Accord Vanguard’s State Coordinator, Hezekiah Bamiji, the group called on the Inspector-General of the Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and the Police Service Commission (PSC) to call him to order before he throws the state into avoidable crisis.
The group emphasized the need for Police to remain neutral as Osun enter its political season and not became a tool in the hand of any political party, especially the ruling party at the National level, the APC.
It further defended its claim of Osun Police Command’s compromise with Gotan’s deployment of personnel to the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) primary election despite announcement of its suspension.
Also, the police were deployed to the primaries held by the factional members of the Accord Party on Sunday despite public awareness of last week’s primary election which saw Adeleke emerged as the party’s candidate.
“About two weeks ago, certain people invaded Osun from Oyo state to organise a PDP primary that has initially been suspended, yet the Police from the Osun Command provided security for them.
“The excuse given by CP Ibrahim was that his Command was unaware that the PDP primary had been suspended even though it was widely reported in the media.
“On Sunday, some people gathered somewhere and claimed to hold a primary for the Accord, and the Osun Command under the direction of CP Ibrahim provided security protection.
“This in spite of the fact that the Accord had already held its primary and produced a candidate, for which the Police attended.”
“Looking at the two scenarios, the agenda is very clear, and the curious thing here is, what is the interest of CP Ibrahim? If his excuse for providing security cover for the charade that happened at Adolak Hotel not long ago, he should tell the public why his office refused to accept a correspondence to notify him of the illegal gathering that held on Sunday as was done to other security heads in the state”, IMAV noted in the statement.
The group further reminded the Police chief that as long as he remains an officer, his duty is to the people and not politicians who are running away from political contest, warning that Osun people will not continue to tolerate the manipulation of the Police structure for political purposes.