PDP wants inspector-general of police to arrest Aregbesola over forgery charges pending against him

NIGERIA'S main opposition the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the inspector-general of police Ibrahim Idris to arrest and prosecute former Osun State governor Rauf Aregbesola over forgery and conspiracy charges pending against him.

Yesterday, Governor Aregbesola left office, handing over to his successor Gboyega Oyetola and thus no longer enjoys constitutional immunity from prosecution. In a letter to Mr Idris, however, the PDP reminded him that Governor Aregbesola was facing charges bordering on forgery and the presentation of a fake police report to an election petition tribunal in 2007.

Hon. Soji Adagunodo, the chairman of the Osun State chapter of the PDP, said: “It should be recalled that Mr Aregbesola and one other person were facing a six-count charge before an Abuja High court for forging and presenting a fake police report to an election petition tribunal in 2007 before assuming office as governor in 2010. Now that Mr Aregbesola no longer enjoys constitutional immunity, the inspector-general of police is duty bound to arrest him and present him before the court to prove his innocence in the charge.

“While forgery itself is a weighty crime, forging a security document like a police report should be a matter of concern to the public and must not be swept under the carpet in any guise. Since time does not run against the state in criminal matters, the attorney-general of the federation and the inspector-general of police have no excuse whatsoever to abandon the case of forgery against the former governor."

Among other things, the PDP called on civil society organisations and concerned stakeholders to lend their voices to the call. It added that it was on the basis of the forged police report that the appellate tribunal in Ibadan ordered a retrial of Mr Aregbesola’s petition in 2009.