ADC Raises Alarm Over Alleged Plot to Arrest National Secretary

(ADC National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola. Photo by News Express)

The African Democratic Congress has issued a warning regarding purported efforts to apprehend its National Secretary ahead of Saturday's gubernatorial contest in Osun State.

The opposition party disclosed on Wednesday that it had received credible intelligence concerning plans to detain the former governor in the period preceding the election.

Party officials expressed apprehension that such action could be strategically designed to disrupt campaign activities and election-day operations, particularly the secretary's coordination role.

The party characterised the alleged move as consistent with a broader pattern of intimidation, harassment and institutional misappropriation by the government directed at opposition forces.

The party contended that such developments could not be readily dismissed given this established trajectory.

The National Secretary previously served as the state's chief executive between 2010 and 2018 and subsequently held the interior ministry portfolio in the Federal Government.

The ADC stressed that any security agency engagement with the official should adhere to established protocols, emphasising his former gubernatorial status, previous ministerial rank and present party leadership position.

The opposition party cautioned that detention immediately preceding an election in which his organisation is competing would constitute a singular interpretation: that authorities intended to obstruct his direction and coordination of party electoral activities.

Party leadership warned that such timing could fundamentally compromise electoral credibility.

The ADC consequently urged the Federal Government and law enforcement authorities to refrain from actions undermining election integrity, emphasising that national observers would assess the administration's conduct not through subsequent justifications but through decisions undertaken prior to the election.

The opposition party further called upon the ruling administration to eschew measures exacerbating political tensions within the state, reminding authorities that democratic governance frameworks remain operative.