Lagos — In this report, Wale Olaleye revisits the purportedly forged Police report in the on-going retrial of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition and posits that the development may have diverted attention from real issue of politics to a criminal allegation

Titled "Final Security Report on April 14th, 2007 Gubernatorial/House of Assembly Elections in Osun State", the allegedly forged Police report has opened new vistas in the disputed governorship election in the state. Turned down by the Police authorities as having not emanated from them, the report, in every detail, was faulted even by the least critical of men of the Police Force.

Sadly, indication that the report could have been cooked up did not come to the open until it formed the basis for the retrial of the electoral case by the Appeal Court which sat in Ibadan, Oyo State. The court, on March 30, ordered a retrial of the petition filed by the Action Congress (AC) governorship candidate in the April 14, 2007 election in the state, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola against the election of Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, citing miscarriage of justice by the election tribunal. The court said its decision was due to the rejection of certain documents tendered by the petitioner, admitting that the said documents, including the controversial Police report on the poll, were vital to the determination of the case.

The judgment read in part: "The Final Security Report on the governorship election in Osun State was made by a Police officer under a strict duty by the Inspector-General of Police to inquire into the conduct of the elections. The said document marked rejected is a public document. The position of the law is that once a public document is signed and certified as required by section 110,112 of the Evidence Act, it becomes admissible on production and it is not necessary to call a witness to prove custody or to verify the document."

Worried by this development, the governor first wrote to the then Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro in a letter dated April 1 and titled: "Police Report in Respect of April Governorship Election in Osun State". In the letter, Oyinlola noted that the Appeal Court's decision of March 30 was predicated on the report, albeit not admitted as evidence in the lower court. He said the lower court did not accept it because the author did not appear at the tribunal even when subpoenaed. He therefore urged Okiro to verify the report as well as provide the author.

In his reply dated April 8, Okiro stunned the public when in his response, he said amongst other things that the report was fake and does not reflect the style of the Police intelligence report. He also said the author of the report- one CSP Ahmed Mohammed and one DSP Odiga Ame J who certified the reportare not men of the Nigerian Police Force.

While further explaining his fact-finding, Okiro noted that the letterhead used in concocting the report was not the ideal Police type and as such, forged. The Police IG also added that the number- CL2341 which was reflected on the document is non-existent in the force policy files. "In this regard therefore, I am not in a position to oblige the appearance of the author at the tribunal when the retrial comes up," Okiro stated as he concluded his response to the governor's letter.

"Apart from these, it has also been established that in the controversial report, the rank- CSP was separated by dots, negating completely, the Police style of spelling out ranks. Besides, it is also common knowledge that Police do not observe paragraphs when writing reports. But the alleged forged report was paragraphed. What with the logo that was placed on the left side of the letterhead as against middle where it ordinarily sits. Even more shocking were such errors as the report carrying in its headline- "Home of Assembly." evident in the report, there are indeed, far more grievous errors, ranging from the style, spelling, language use and pattern that could give it away as phony," he said.

However, irked by Okiro's reponse, Oyinlola wrote another letter to the President, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, seeking that the culprits be brought to book. Dated April 16, the letter was enclosed with details of all that had transpired in the heat of the development- Okiro's response inclusive. "I have noted with a lot of respect and admiration, Your Excellency's commitment to the reform of our electoral system. I however believe that if this occurrence is allowed to go unpunished, such criminality as the forgery of a Police/security report by an election loser who desperately wanted the courts to give him victory would be inimical to the growth of our democracy. It could also be especially injurious to the tenets of the rule of law, our judicial system and an infraction on the rights of the voters, who made their choice of governor on 14th, April, 2007.

"Again, it is significant to note that based on the report, it appears my opponent was apparently assured of victory ahead of the judgment to the extent that he had printed his inauguration programme booklets in which he referred to himself as Executive Governor, Osun State. The police have also confirmed the existence of the booklets which were printed somewhere in Lagos. Indeed, the company which was contracted to print the material by my opponent has caused a man, Aramide Olufowobi to be arrested and prosecuted for stealing the booklets and leaking it to the public.

"Having made these submissions sir, I urge Your Excellency to use your good office to direct the appropriate agencies of state to fish out the culprits who masterminded the forgery of the Police report and bring them and their sponsors to justice. The appropriate security agencies' task is made easy b y the fact that a lawyer had the forged document certified and proceeded to apply to tender it in court, having apparently sourced it from his client", the letter ended.

It was, perhaps, against the backdrop of the letter that Aregbesola was eventually arrested penultimate Friday and released the next day, Saturday. He has since been arraigned in court last week.

But Aregbesola had alleged conspiracy by the Police and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against him. He has also insisted that the report culminating in his arrest was not fake and that his position has been ascertained through Police investigation. Aregbesola, who spoke in Abuja shortly after his release said there was a desperate plot by a corrupt section of the Police to collude with some mischievous people in the PDP to undermine the authenticity of the report.

The AC governorship candidate was arrested at 11am on Friday by six policemen who came to his private home at Fatai Street, Egbeda in Lagos and took him away. Aregbesola came back to town late Saturday night and told his excited supporters that: "Through investigation of the Police, they have been able to discover that it was a section of the Nigeria Police that is colluding with the bad elements in PDP to discredit the Police report in order to cover up the atrocities committed during the April 14, 2007 gubernatorial election in Osun State."

He reiterated that the authenticity of the Police report cannot be doubted. "By the grace of God, the wishes of the Osun people as expressed in 2007 election will be realized through the legal means we are pursuing," he declared while appealling to his supporters and well wishers to go about their normal activities promising that "they would smile very soon; the truth shall definitely triumph".

The issue has become a subject of litigation as Aregbesola has since been taken to court by the Police and subsequently arraigned for charges relating to the offence alleged. Interestingly, he has insisted that the report is not fake even though the former Police IG has identified certain areas indicating that the report did not emanate from them. And except the authorities take keen interest in a grievous matter as alleged forgery, offenders are sure to go unpunished, whether for or against. It therefore behoves on the security agencies to truly get down to work by investigating the report and unmasking the faces behind the mask so that lessons that could emanate from this would serve as deterrent to others in future. This is one of the signs ahead of the 2011 general elections and must be tamed early enough.