Members of the Remo Youth Association who accused an Ogun State lawmaker, Adeleye Adewale Adebiyi, of forgery and perjury relating to claims he made on his electoral form prior to the 2015 elections where abducted yesterday by the lawmaker and his thugs.
One ofthe petitioners being kidnapped on camera by a group led by Adebiyi Adeleye
In a petition dated September 16, 2015 and addressed to the Ogun State Police Command, the Remo Youth Association alleged that Mr. Adebiyi “intentionally presented a forged Secondary School Leaving Certificate and [an Ordinary National Diploma] OND certificate to [the] Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), lied about his age, and made false declaration before the Commissioner of Oath in Ogun State in December 2014.”
The petition, which was signed by Prince Wasiu, stated that the lawmaker committed the forgery in filling out his personal information in INEC Form CF-001, a copy of which the petitioners attached.
According to the petition, the lawmaker falsely claimed to have attended Ode Remo Community High School from 1986 to 1993, and that he earned an OND from Federal College of Freshwaters Fisheries Technology in New Bussa, Niger State. The petition disclosed that the state legislator then attached a School Leaving Certificate and National Diploma examination result instead of certificates.
The petition disclosed that the majority of residents of Remo North constituency already knew that Mr. Adebiyi’s claims were false. Even so, the petitioners told the Ogun State Commissioner of Police that they carried out a formal investigation that established that the lawmaker “actually attended SAAPADE GRAMMAR SCHOOL from 1986-1991,” instead of his false claim “to have attended Ode Remo High School from 1986 to 1993.”
The petition suggested that the lawmaker left SAAPADE in controversial circumstances, hence his desire to “conceal and lie to INEC about the actual school he attended.”
The petitioners enclosed several documents showing that the lawmaker was a student at SAAPADE, including a response from the principal of the school and a copy of Mr. Adebiyi’s admission register, confirming that the lawmaker “was admitted into SAAPADE in 1986, JSS1 (Class 1), and left the same school in 1991 at SS2.”
The petitioners also accused the principal of Ode Remo High School of colluding with the legislator by issuing him a fraudulent certificate aimed at misleading INEC and voters. “Could the accused have attended two secondary schools at the same time between the same period of 1986-1992? It is our opinion that the current principal of Ode Remo High School is an accomplice, in this case, helping him forge and falsify the records,” Mr. Wasiu wrote.
The petition stated that the current principal of SAAPADE School admitted that he had once taught the lawmaker in an English class, adding that several alumni of the school were “willing to testify that they were classmates at SAAPADE and were both admitted into JSS1 (Class 1) in 1986.”
The petition also included evidence that Mr. Adebiyi inadvertently exposed his own lie when he recently hosted a meeting of the 1986-1992 sets of the Old Students Association of SAAPADE Grammar School. Mr. Wasiu enclosed a copy of the official minutes of the meetings of the Old Student Association held on April 19, 2014, August 2, 2014, and August 1, 2015, proving that Mr. Adebiyi was a “bona fide, founding and financial member of the Association.”
The petitioners also provided some documents to demonstrate that the lawmaker never earned the National Diploma he claimed to have received from a polytechnic. “Under the ‘Freedom of Information Act (F.O.I) 2011,’ we requested to know if truly he graduated from the institution, and to know on what basis or result he was admitted, if at all the ND result was authentic,” the petitioners wrote, adding that the polytechnic’s registrar, H.M. Baboko, wrote them to confirm that there was no record of Mr. Adebiyi in the school’s archives.
Noting that Mr. Adebiyi’s forged school certificate identified him as an “arts” student, the petitioners wondered how the legislator could have gained admission to a polytechnic solely focused on science courses.
According to the petitioner, Mr. Adebiyi was known to be a full-time photography apprentice at a local photo shop in Isara, his hometown, in 2000, the same year “he claimed to have finished ND.”
The petitioners urged the state police command to investigate the lawmaker’s claims to ascertain from the Federal Polytechnic that he had never attended the school. They also accused Mr. Adebiyi of lying about his date of birth.
“He failed to provide his original birth certificate to INEC but claimed to be born on 16th of July 1974. However, his original registered date of birth is 17th of December 1974,” said the petitioners. They added Mr. Adebiyi’s correct date of birth could be verified from his primary school record at archive, Wesley Primary School, Isara, which is part of his admission register at SAAPADE Grammar School as well as on his international passport.
The petition also accused the lawmaker of fraudulently and knowingly declaring and signing a false declaration before the Commissioner of Oath on December 15, 2014.
The petitioners observed that Mr. Adebiyi had committed criminal offenses punishable under Chapter 43 and 44 of the Criminal Code of Nigeria. They also noted that the Nigerian constitution “states that a person is not qualified to be a member of the State Assembly” if he has presented forged certificates to INEC.
The petition was copied to the Nigerian President, the Inspector General of Police, the chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, and the chairperson of the Ogun State chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association.
In response to the petition, Mr. Adebiyi mobilizing his aides and thugs to the Nigerian Union ofTeachers Hall in Abeokuta to abduct his accusers.
In broad day light, Adebiyi watched as thugs loyal to him kidnaped Taiwo Gbadebo and Okiki Ola. Shortly after the abduction of the petitioner, Mr. Adebiyi posted photos of the abduction on his Facebook page, bragging that he had nabbed the fellows that defamed him. He later dumped his victims at the police station in Ibara -Abeokuta where they will be charged by police for defaming Mr. Adebiyi.
UPDATE: The petitioners were granted bail by the police just as Saharareporters was going to press
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