Lawmakers demand immediate redeployment of Osun CP over alleged bias
By Ismail Azeez
Members of the Accord Party serving in the National Assembly and the Osun State House of Assembly have called for the immediate redeployment of the Osun State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, alleging that his continued posting in the state could compromise the credibility and integrity of the August 15 governorship election.
The lawmakers, under the Accord National and State Assembly Caucus, comprising seven National Assembly members and 25 state legislators, made the demand during a press conference held in Osogbo on Friday.
The caucus alleged that the police commissioner had failed to act decisively against what it described as politically motivated attacks targeting Accord Party members and accused him of being an alleged enabler of the violence.
Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Adewale Egbedun, read the text of the media briefing held in Osogbo, capital of the state, which was signed by Lere Oyewumi, Senator representing Osun West Senatorial District, Bamidele Salam,
Leader of the Osun Caucus in the House of Representatives and Egbedun
According to them, “On the account of the foregoing, we hereby call on the Inspector General of Police, Mr Olatunji Disu to immediately redeploy the Osun State Commissioner of Police, Mr Ibrahim Gothan who has shown himself partisan, highly compromised and incapable of providing effective security support for the people of Osun State.
“We call for the immediate arrest and prosecution of persons linked with the various crimes perpetrated against members and supporters of the Accord in various parts of Osun state especially in the last 3 months.
“Only a few weeks ago, Mr Kolade Eluyera, an Accord member in Irewole Local Government Area, was brutally murdered.
Similarly, on June 3, 2026, the Chairman of Accord in Osogbo Local Government, Hon Asimiyu Ajibola, was shot multiple times by armed assailants and remains hospitalized while battling for his life.
“The only crime of those who were most recently shot by the APC thugs in Ile-Ife, Owode-Ede and Osogbo was that they wore branded caps of the Accord.
“Unfortunately, these incidents form part of a growing pattern of violence that has generated fear and anxiety among citizens across the state.
“Regrettably, the Police in Osun state appears a willing accomplice in the execution of the unlawful plans which have begun to unfold.
“We find it difficult to understand how crimes committed in broad daylight, in branded vehicles, caught on tapes would not be tracked and perpetrators arrested 72 hours after those shootings.
“The apparent inability to identify, apprehend, and prosecute perpetrators has emboldened criminal elements and increased public concerns regarding the safety of lives and property in Osun State.
“We wish to put it on record that since his assumption of office on the 11th of May, 2025, the state Commissioner of Police has not deemed it fit to attend the state Security Council meeting more than twice! On all other occasions, he either sent some retired personnel or persons junior to other service commanders to represent him.
“The orchestrated attempt of the CP to incapacitate the Amotekun Corps is another clear danger to the security of our people in Osun State, especially now that cases of kidnapping and banditry are on the rise in different parts of the country.
“While hundreds of Accord party campaign billboards were vandalised by known miscreants without a single arrest, the Commissioner of Police was busy trying to stop the holding of campaign by our party men in parts of the State.
“The Police Commissioner, from all indications, has become an accomplice to the plans to turn our state upside down and hand our democratic institutions to hijackers and state captors. This is clearly unexpected, unacceptable, and very unfortunate.”