TheCable

Oloyin Adebayo, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has petitioned Solomon Arase, inspector-general of police, alleging criminal conspiracy, collation of election results/declaration of return, forgery of summary and final election results forms by Senate President Bukola Saraki in the Kwara central senatorial district election.

In the petition seen by TheCable, Adebayo, who is the personal assistant to Abdurahman Abdulrazaq, the PDP candidate in the election, contended that the electoral exercise which returned Saraki as senator representing the district was fraudulent.

He urged the IGP to investigate the allegations, insisting that Saraki colluded with Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials to forge result sheets, declare himself winner, and perjured at the national assembly election petition tribunal in Kwara, “thereby perverting the cause of justice”.

The particulars of the allegations as stated by Azeez Olagoke, counsel to Adebayo, and forwarded to INEC, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the National Security Adviser (NSA) read: “The complaint by our client against the conduct of the Kwara central senatorial district election of March 28, 2015 centres on alleged criminal acts involving:

“Barely concealed conspiracy to return Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki.

“Dodgy collation of election results & declaration of return; brazen violations of sections 69; 118(1) (a), (c), (e) & (j); 123(1), (4), (5) & (6); and 124(1) (b), (5) & (6) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended); contemptuous breaches of relevant INEC election regulations, namely, the Manual for Election Officials 2015 (Updated Version) — notably Chapter Three, Section A: Collation and Declaration Procedures, paragraphs 3.6 & 3.7, pages 58-59 and page 66;

“Audacious forgeries of INEC’s ‘Summary of results from local government areas collation at senatorial district level’ — Form EC 8D (I); and ‘declaration of result of election’ — Form EC 8E (I); and foolhardy attempt to pervert the course of justice by way of tendering on oath the preceding INEC Form EC 8D (I) and Form EC 8E (I) to the national assembly election petition tribunal holding in Ilorin by Ladi Hassan an aide to Dr Saraki who nominated him for the election and the only witness called by the All Progressives Congress (APC), being its party agent and the only other signatory to Form EC 8D (I) besides, Dr (Mrs) Mulkah A Ahmed, the Collation/ Returning Officer for the election — one of two documents that Dr Saraki relied upon to urge the tribunal to strike out the petition against him as filed out of statutorily permitted time frame and therefore incompetent.”

Speaking with TheCable about the petition, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki’s spokesman, said the same case was before the election petition tribunal in Kwara, and wondered why the petitioner was involving the IGP.

He said that the petitioner was trying to use the media to get attention on a matter that was before the tribunal, adding that it was an attempt to put his boss on media trial.

This appears to be one of the many battles of Saraki since his emergence as senate president.

He has repeatedly said that his travails are as a result of his defiance to strong “forces” who want to get him out of the way.

He is currently facing charges of alleged false declaration of assets at the code of conduct tribunal.

Below are the the annexures to the petition