Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has strongly condemned the reported arrest of the state Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Sunday Bisi, and demanded his immediate and unconditional release.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, the governor said Bisi was arrested at his residence in Ilesa shortly after returning from casting his vote in the ongoing governorship election.
“Information reaching me indicates that Hon. Bisi was accosted in his home in Ilesa shortly after he returned after voting, and whisked away to a yet-to-be-known location. Up till this moment, no one has been availed the reason for his arrest,” the statement read.
Governor Adeleke described the action as a sheer abuse of law enforcement and a vicious attack on the democratic process. He alleged that the arrest formed part of a broader plan by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and compromised security agents to intimidate supporters, prevent them from monitoring collation centres, and facilitate the manipulation of results.
“This latest sweep on my supporters, I have authoritatively learnt, is part of a broader plan to give the APC unhindered access to change results at collation centres and upturn our wins at the poll. This is the biggest assault on democracy, and I urge everyone involved in this desperate attempt to upturn the will of our people through the use of state institutions,” Adeleke stated.
The governor called for the immediate release of Hon. Sunday Bisi and other persons he described as political prisoners across the state.
“In that regard, I am calling for the immediate release of Hon. Bisi because his arrest is nothing but political and other political prisoners across Osun state. Election should be about the people freely giving their mandates to the person of their choice without threat or force,” he added.
As of the time of the statement, the whereabouts of the PDP chairman remained unknown, and no official reason had been provided for his arrest.