Osun accuses Oyetola and cabinet members of contract racketeering, money laundering

The Osun State Government has accused former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola and several members of his administration of being involved in contract racketeering and money laundering during their time in office.

The allegations were made public by Kolapo Alimi, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, during a live broadcast on Osun State radio stations on Monday morning. Alimi revealed that the state government has gathered substantial evidence, including documents, to back these claims, which will be made available to the public later this week.

Alimi stated: “Let me use this medium to inform members of the public that we have plausible evidence and documents to back it up that the former Governor of the state, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, his Commissioners for Finance, Alhaji Bola Oyebamiji, Commissioner for Works Remi Omowaiye, Commissioner for Local Government Adebayo Adeleke Banik, their ALGON Chairman, Abiodun Samuel Idowu and others were involved in various contract racketeering and money laundering activities during their administration.”

The commissioner assured that the evidence would be presented to the public between Monday and Friday. “The claims we are making are backed up by relevant documents. We will present all of the documents very soon,” Alimi added, emphasizing that the revelations have been in the works for months and would be aired live across all state radio stations.

Alimi also mentioned that the government is keeping a close watch on local government activities across the state, particularly ahead of the local government elections scheduled for Saturday. He assured that the elections would take place smoothly and called on residents to maintain law and order.

This latest development follows a recent dispute between Governor Ademola Adeleke and Oyetola regarding the reinstatement of sacked local government chairmen. Governor Adeleke accused Oyetola of attempting to provoke unrest by pressuring security agencies to reinstate the officials. Oyetola, who now serves as the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, denied the accusations and urged the Adeleke administration to respect the Court of Appeal’s judgment from February 10 on the matter.

In response to the new allegations, Waheed Adekunle, speaking on behalf of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissed the claims, calling them politically motivated and baseless. He accused the state government of fabricating the allegations as a distraction from current governance issues.

“Disregard the allegations. The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy did not engage in any racketeering and his cabinet members did not involve themselves in money laundering,” Adekunle stated. “Why are they making threats on radio to report Oyetola and others to the anti-graft agencies? They should just obey the Appeal Court judgment and allow for the reinstatement of the sacked council officials.”