Politics

Reactions As Gov Dapo Abiodun Fraud Case In US Surfaces Online

Published

3 years ago

May 10, 2022.

Paul Mbagwu

Reactions As Gov Dapo Abiodun Fraud Case, Assault Of Police, Secret Service Agent In Miami Surfaces Online
The document revealed that Abiodun, on November 6, 1986, at about 8:20 p.m., resisted being handcuffed by a police officer from the Miami Police Department and an Agent of the U.S. Secret Service…

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that the Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun has been trending on Twitter on Tuesday after tweeps dug up old stories of alleged fraud, assault of a police officer, and secret agent service supposedly brought up against him in the United States.

This online media platform gathers that the City of Miami Police Department filed criminal charges related to alleged fraud and resisting arrest against Dapo Abiodun in 1986, according to newly-released police files.

Mr Abiodun, now 61 violently resisted a police officer and a Secret Service agent as they tried to execute an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

The warrant was issued after Abiodun failed to appear in court for a previously instituted case of credit card fraud, records show.

The document revealed that Abiodun, on November 6, 1986, at about 8:20 p.m., resisted being handcuffed by a police officer from the Miami Police Department and an Agent of the U.S. Secret Service. Both were detailed to produce the then 26-year-old Abiodun in court for being at large over an ongoing criminal case.

The decades-old casefile was obtained by the Coalition of Ogun State Students and Youths (COSSY), a political action think-tank sympathetic to Abiodun Akinlade, Abiodun’s challenger in the upcoming APC primaries for the 2023 gubernatorial election in Ogun.

Here are some reactions on Twitter:

@adewale

So husshpuppi dey learn. Dapo Abiodun don dey do G since 1986. APC knew all this before selecting him as Ogun State Governor. Once you offend them they will expose you. But politics na very dirty game sha. Chai!!

@Ollayinkaa

Werey wa ni Inu Iran yin …… U guys can’t learn at all … Criminals are in the affairs of the state join country and all u guys can say Is discredit hmmmm

@Ollayinkaa

But the major thing here is that he was “adjudged not guilty” of all the charges. It’s right there on the face of the documents.

@abdul hakeem salami

So What the difference please kindly educate difference between adjudged and been guilty .

Abd Rasheed @wheezslar

comman see

@Ollayinkaa

They got you dirty and wearing off.

Governor Abiodun despite the defence put up by some for him on the alleged fraud allegations, is yet to respond to the latest development

Dapo Abiodun of Ogun state totally exposed and I'm here for this pic.twitter.com/jpLtNuKQ9j

— Sir Olayinka (@Ollayinkaa) May 9, 2022

This online media platform recalls that Mr Abiodun’s charges in the United States have raised concerns about his rectitude to continue as governor of a major Nigerian state like Ogun. He was first charged in early 1986 for forgery and credit card theft, among other criminal activities.

Following initial reports about his criminal past last month, the ruling All Progressives Congress asked Mr Abiodun to address allegations in a petition compiled by COSSY. Whereas the governor, through his lawyers, admitted his arrest in the U.S., he insisted he was never convicted.

Mr Abiodun’s lawyers said the matters ended at investigations, which are not sufficient to disqualify him from getting his party’s ticket for a second term. They also argued that the matter was already status-barred since it occurred more than three decades ago.

FURTHER READING:

Indeed, the Nigerian Constitution allows a maximum of 10 years for a criminal convict to be excluded from seeking an elective office. Even if Mr Abiodun had been convicted in 1986, 33 years had passed as of 2019 when he was first elected governor.

Revelations about Mr Abiodun’s criminal history emerged months after one of his closest aides, Abiodun Rufai, was arrested in New York for stealing Americans’ identities to defraud the U.S. government. He pleaded guilty earlier this month to several counts of information and will be sentenced in August.

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