Oyo Patriotic Front (OPF), a socio-cultural group based in Ibadan, the Oyo
State capital, has urged the Federal High Court handling the alleged case of
money laundering and stealing preferred against the former governor of the
state, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, to revoke the bail granted him and expedite the
process of his trial.
The group made this known in a release issued by its
Chairman, Chief Jare Adepoju at the weekend.
According to the group, the bail granted the former governor
had lasted beyond tolerable level and the trial taking too long, with the
tendency of miscarriage of justice.
“We urge the Court and the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) to expedite the trial of the former governor over the alleged
money-laundering and stealing of Oyo State money totaling almost N6 billion
through the sale of our shares. Our people are waiting for justice to be done
over this matter as, as things stand now, as usual with big men in Nigeria,
that case may be swept under the carpet,” the group said.
The group called on all right-thinking people of the state
to begin to avert their minds to the issue of the state shares which were sold
under the government of Senator Ladoja, urging them to refuse to be swayed by
cheap propaganda from the former governor that the matter was political.
“We cannot be swayed by such cheap politicking and
propaganda. The details of the sales of our shares during the Ladoja government
are in the public domain. We all have details of how some people used their own
handwriting to apportion our collective heritage to their children, wives and
concubines. We should not allow the matter to lie low; we should seek quick judicial
resolution of this matter. Our patience is running out,” the group said.
The OPF deployed what it called recent activist posturing of
the former governor, even when the case of alleged stealing preferred against
him was yet to be determined.
“The Yoruba proverb which says that when the suspected thief
is not caught on time, he becomes the accused is playing itself out here in Oyo
State. Failure to finally come to judgment over this matter has made Ladoja see
himself as the ombudsman of the people whereas the people are following the
case of their shares which were sold and proceeds paid into personal pockets
with keen interest,” the OPF said.
The group said that the recent preoccupation of the former
governor with the quest to return to the Oyo State Government House when he is
an accused on bail was a reflection of the low moral status of Nigerian
leadership.
“Recently, Senator Ladoja has assumed the role of a crusader
and Mr. Clean, as if we are all suffering from collective amnesia. Could we
have forgotten so soon the evidences that the EFCC preferred against him which
are stunning and revealing? This was only possible because the court and the
EFCC seem to be dragging their feet over the alleged money-laundering matter,”
said the group.
