The Osun State Governorship Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has accused the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its Accord Party allies of politicising an ongoing police investigation into an alleged assassination plot involving a chieftain of the party, Hon. Oluwole Oke, insisting that security matters should not be reduced to political propaganda.

In a statement issued on Sunday by Omolebi-Sunday Segun Tunde, Senior Media Aide and Media and Publicity Directorate representative for the Director-General of the Osun State Governorship Campaign Council, Hon. Oluwole Oke, the APC urged the public to allow security agencies to conclude their investigation without interference. He said the opposition should address the substance of the allegations instead of attacking the Nigeria Police Force.

The campaign council maintained that the Nigeria Police arrested one Oriyomi Olalekan in possession of a Beretta pistol allegedly loaded with four rounds of live ammunition, stressing that the suspect was publicly paraded by the police as part of an official investigation.

According to the statement, the PDP/Accord alliance should answer key questions surrounding the incident, including whether the suspect was arrested with the firearm, who owns the weapon, whether its ownership has been disputed, whether the suspect denied his alleged cult affiliation, and whether he made any statement linking Hon. Oke to the firearm.

The council argued that no competent court or investigative authority had concluded that the police fabricated the case, saying allegations to that effect remained unsubstantiated.

It further alleged that Hon. Oluwole Oke had become the target of sustained political attacks aimed at weakening his influence ahead of the August 15 governorship election, insisting that such campaigns would not distract him from working for the victory of the APC governorship candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji.

The APC also accused the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke of downplaying security concerns whenever they became politically inconvenient, urging the state government to ensure that every allegation of political violence is thoroughly investigated irrespective of the political affiliation of those involved.

The statement further questioned what it described as the inconsistency of the spokesperson of the Imole Campaign Council, noting that he had recently commended the Nigeria Police under the Inspector-General of Police for professionalism but was now challenging the integrity of the same institution following the arrest of suspects in connection with the alleged assassination plot.

The campaign council recalled that when Hon. Oke was previously linked to the killing of Ajayi Aderogba, he refrained from conducting a media trial and instead allowed security agencies to investigate the matter, urging all parties to accord the same respect to due process in the current case.

It maintained that anyone with evidence contradicting the police investigation should present such evidence before the appropriate investigative authorities or a court of competent jurisdiction rather than through public statements.

The APC stressed that security should never become a partisan issue, insisting that only truth, due process and justice could guarantee lasting peace in Osun State.