The traditional ruler of Lalupon in Lagelu Local Government Area of Oyo State, Oba Muniru Adekunle, on Wednesday declared that the Chief Whip of the state House of Assembly, Olafisoye Akinmoyede, popularly known as Lafi, is not responsible for the death of the slain House of Representatives member, Temitope Olatoye Sugar, adding that there is no way the lawmaker can kill Sugar, who he described as Lafi’s brother.
Nigerian Tribune quoted the royal father as stating that he knows the Chief Whip well, describing him as a man of peace who had contributed immensely to the development of Lalupon town and the entire local government area through his philanthropic activities.
He explained that though both Akinmoyede and the late Sugar belonged to different political parties, they are “brothers and best of friends,” and had jointly and individually committed enormous resources to the socio-economic wellbeing of the people of the area.
“I have always known Sugar and Akinmoyede as not only brothers but also best of friends. It is therefore inconceivable that one would want to terminate the other’s life for whatever reason. As the traditional ruler of Lalupon town where Akinmoyede hails from, I know him to be a man of peace; he does not encourage thuggery and violence. I’m sure he knows nothing about the unfortunate incident,” he said.
Oba Adekunle added that the fact that the legislator voluntarily responded to police invitation by walking to the SCIB, Iyaganku in Ibadan as well as the testimonies of most of his subjects on Akinmoyede’s character were enough evidence that he was innocent.
Though he commended the police for the job they have done so far in investigating the issues surrounding Sugar’s assassination, he, however, urged them to further intensify their efforts to find the real killers of the late lawmaker with a view to bringing them to book so that the innocent will not be unjustly punished.
He commiserated with the family of Late Olatoye over the untimely death of the lawmaker, describing it as unfortunate and disheartening and adding that the late lawmaker would be sorely missed for being a good ambassador of his constituents and for his unprecedented philanthropy which had endeared him to his people.
Sugar, the lawmaker representing Lagelu/Akinyele Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives was killed by unknown gunmen during the March 9 governorship and House of Assembly elections at Lalupon town.
Akinmoyede, who contested for the Lagelu State Constituency for the second time under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) but lost to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, has since been in detention at the State Criminal Investigations Department, Iyaganku in Ibadan in connection to the incident.
