2023: Ogun coalition asks APC to disqualify Dapo Abiodun over ‘fraud case’

The Coalition of Ogun State Students and Youths (COSSY) has asked the All Progressives Congress (APC) to disqualify Dapo Abiodun, governor of Ogun, from seeking re-election on the party’s platform.

According to the coalition, documents pointing to a case of alleged fraud involving Abiodun in the 1980s were obtained from the Miami-Dade police department in Florida, United States.

The coalition said several crimes — credit card fraud, forgery and petty theft — allegedly levelled against Abiodun, were said to have been committed in the US in 1986 and 1987.

Muyiwa Adetona, general secretary of the coalition, asked banks in the state to “be very careful as all transactions” handled by the state.

“To be forewarned is to be forearmed. To all elders of Ogun state, speak out now! Call Prince Dapo Abiodun to order,” the group said.

“Now that we all know, he should steer clear of Oke-Mosan and vanish into an inglorious oblivion.”

In the statement, the coalition also attached a mugshot which it said was taken when the governor was allegedly arrested in the US.

According to the police records attached to the statement, a person named Abiodun Oluseun Adedapo, who was 26 years old, was arrested by the Miami-Dade police on November 6, 1986 for allegedly resisting arrest when officers wanted to effect an arrest warrant for one Shawn Michael David, who was accused of credit card fraud, forgery and petty theft.

The document also suggests that the said Abiodun reportedly used the pseudonym — Shawn Michael David — to allegedly commit the crime to which an arrest warrant was issued.

Meanwhile, efforts to get a reaction from the Ogun state governor were unsuccessful as Kunle Somorin, his chief press secretary, failed to respond to calls or text message.

But in April, Abiodun had written to the All Progressives Congress (APC), asking the party to disregard a petition seeking to disqualify him from seeking a second term in office.

A petition by one Ayodele Oludiran, an APC member, was said to have been submitted to the party, seeking Abiodun’s disqualification over an alleged fraud conviction involving the latter, as well as “inconsistencies” in forms submitted for the 2019 governorship election.