Aide accuses Lagos LG chair of illegal arrest for exposing fraud

Ganiyu Oyebanjo, the Special Adviser on Boundary Matters to the Kosofe Local Government chairman, Moyosore Ogunlewe, has accused his boss of orchestrating his illegal arrest and detention for 15 days as a retaliation for exposing alleged financial misappropriation and corruption within the council.

According to him, his arrest was a clear abuse of power and a violation of his human rights.

Speaking exclusively with our correspondent on Wednesday, the aide insisted that his arrest by the police was a diversionary tactic to silence him and prevent the truth from coming out regarding the corruption allegations he raised against the Kosofe council chair.

He narrated that he was arrested in his home on March 11, 2025, by officers of the Zone II Police Command, allegedly on the orders of Ogunlewe.

He said he was charged with unlawfully breaking into the office of the chairman to steal classified documents.

He, however, denied allegations that he broke into Ogunlewe’s office to steal classified documents, stating that the documents in question were given to him by one Michael Oduntan, who was allegedly caught stealing official documents in the chairman’s office in June 2024.

Speaking further, Oyebanjo said the documents he had against Ogunlewe reveal a pattern of corruption and forgery.

He alleged that the chairman, in collaboration with the council secretary, Fatai Gbadebo, would write new minutes to accommodate their corrupt plans and create fake extracts.

“The documents I have against him are extracts and payment vouchers. The extracts are approvals and resolutions of the executive committee at the local government level for contracts, procurement, or projects.

“As a member of the executive committee, I can attest that for any project, contract, or procurement, there must be a resolution from the committee, which we all must agree on before it can be carried out. However, when I examined the extracts, I discovered that there was never a time when any contract, project, or procurement was mentioned in our executive committee meetings.”

This raised serious suspicions about the chairman’s activities.

“It was later I discovered that after our meetings, the chairman, in connivance with the council secretary, Fatai Gbadebo, would write new minutes to accommodate their corrupt plans and create fake extracts.

“These fake documents were then used to justify payments for projects that were never approved by the executive committee,” Oyebanjo claimed.

He also stated that he has payment vouchers to prove the allegations.

“My arrest and detention were a clear attempt to silence me and prevent me from exposing the chairman’s alleged corrupt activities,” he noted.

He also added that he had submitted petitions to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against the chairman.

Oyebanjo further denied allegations that he received N50m from Ogunlewe to compromise the investigation of corruption charges against him.

He added, “Party leaders intervened in the issue after I informed Moyosore Ogunlewe that I had evidence against him and that he needed to start following due process. However, to my surprise, I started hearing rumours that Moyosore Ogunlewe said he bribed me with N50m.

“This false allegation put me in a bad light with many of my political associates and supporters who categorically stated that I did not collect a dime and put Moyosore Ogunlewe on notice to prove otherwise. He claimed the documents were doctored by me. Since he knew the documents were doctored, why did he call for a settlement meeting? Why was he passionately asking me if I had given the documents to some very important personalities? Why did he ask me to please give back the documents to him?

“This allegation is false, and I have never broken into or stolen any item or document from the chairman’s office. Neither was I apprehended at any time whatsoever on any allegation within the council premises or any other place.”

Reacting, the chairman denied allegations of corruption and financial misappropriation, describing Oyebanjo’s claim as an attempt to malign him claiming that the allegations were a ploy to deflect attention from his wrongdoing.

He accused his aide of conspiring with his former personal assistant to steal government documents from his office.

He added, “He is trying to cover up; it is not because of the petition he wrote to the EFCC and ICPC that got him arrested, as he is circulating.

“It is not because he exposed anything that led to his arrest. The issue he raised will be investigated by the authorities in charge of the petition. Let them do their investigation, but you don’t want us to talk about the documents you stole.

“The theft case was reported in June last year, while the petition you wrote was this year. So, are you telling us that we should leave the document that you stole?

The Kosofe LG chair also accused Oyebanjo of requesting a Jeep from him and trying to use the stolen documents to extort money from him.

“I have all the pictures; I have every piece of evidence. It is cheap blackmail, and it is because of the election coming up. The election is in June. So, it is a defamation of character.

“For you to get any money out of the government, it is through documentation. You must have done the job. So, all he is saying is that he has documents to use to get some money from me which are all fake. When he saw that the thing did not work out, he requested a Jeep from me, but I did not answer him,” he stated.