Vote-Buying Scandal: Tinubu Govt Drags Ogun PDP Candidate Adebutu to Court

The Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government has dragged the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State during the March 18, 2023 elections, Ladi Adebutu, to court for allegedly buying votes with prepaid cards.

Also charged to court alongside Adebutu are Zenith Bank Plc and its Managing Director, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, for allegedly aiding and abetting the offence.

The government filed two separate suits at the High Court of Ogun State and the Federal High Court in Abeokuta on behalf of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

Adebutu, who is a former Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly and a son of billionaire businessman, Kessington Adebutu, is facing a four-count charge of criminal conspiracy, bribery, undue influence and money laundering.

According to the charge sheet seen by Newsflash Nigeria, Adebutu and nine other persons associated with the PDP conspired to corruptly give gifts in the form of verve prepaid cards with inscriptions of ‘Dame Caroline Oladuni Adebutu Memorial Endorsement Scheme for less privileged’ in order to induce voters to favour the PDP candidates during the governorship and state assembly elections in Ogun State.

The charge sheet also stated that Adebutu and four of his co-defendants are currently at large and have fled abroad following threats to their lives after the elections.

The charge was based on a petition by the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State, Abdullahi Sanusi, who accused Adebutu of distributing ATM cards preloaded with N10,000 to buy votes at the polling booth on election day.

Adebutu eventually lost the election after polling 262, 383 votes to return second behind Governor Dapo Abiodun of the APC, who polled 276, 298 votes. He has however filed a petition before the election petition tribunal to challenge Abiodun’s return.

In a separate suit at the Federal High Court in Abeokuta, Zenith Bank and its Managing Director are accused of facilitating the transfer of funds from Adebutu’s account to various beneficiaries for the purpose of vote-buying.

The suits were filed on Thursday, June 2, by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, M. B. Abubakar; Aderonke Imana, an assistant chief state counsel; and Sani Bagudu, a senior counsel at the Department of Public Prosecution of the Federation.

The cases are yet to be assigned to any judge for hearing.

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Ilesanmi Adekanbi

Ilesanmi Adekanbi, writers and loves writing the story of politics, He is a movie addict. Adekanbi is a Senior Content Creator at Newsflash Nigeria contact me on email: [email protected]

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