Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has ordered the withdrawal of cybercrime charges filed against Wale Odusola, a lawyer for criticising the state’s 2025 budget on Facebook.
The move followed Mr Odusola’s arraignment on Tuesday before a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Oke-Eda, Akure, where he was charged with cyberstalking, defamation, and inciting public hatred against the governor.
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The move also came after the case, which began with the police inviting Mr Odusola for interrogation on Monday, drew a barrage of criticism of the police and the governor for being intolerant of dissenting views.
In a statement on Tuesday, the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Ebenezer Adeniyan, distanced Mr Aiyedatiwa from the case, insisting the governor neither authorised nor instigated the legal action.
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“The attention of the Governor of Ondo State has been drawn to the petition which attempts to bring Barrister Wale Omolegbon Odusola’s Facebook criticism to serious scrutiny and prosecution for cyberbullying by the police authority.
“It is necessary to state unequivocally that Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa has no hand in it. The Governor did not commission anyone to petition the police against any citizen who criticises him or his administration,” he said.
He added that the governor has directed the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice to take over the case and drop the charges.
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From Facebook post to criminal charges
PREMIUM TIMES reported earlier that the police charged and arraigned Mr Odusola before the Chief Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
The police accused him of cyberstalking, defamation, and inciting public hatred against Governor Aiyedatiwa through a Facebook video he posted on 11 February.
In the video, Odusola criticised the 2025 Ondo State budget, alleging it marginalised the Ilaje Local Government Area, an oil-producing region that is also the governor’s constituency.
Speaking in Ilaje, his native language, he pointed out that while Owo, the hometown of the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, received 12 infrastructure projects worth N3 billion, Ilaje was allocated just one road project valued at N100 million.
“Marginalisation is real, and calling it out is not a crime,” Mr Odusola said in the video. “We will not be silenced.”
Mr Odusola pleaded not guilty to the charges on Tuesday, and the court, afterwards, adjourned the trial until 5 May.
Police charges
The police alleged in the charges they filed on Tuesday that Mr Odusola’s remarks constituted cyber harassment, causing the governor “emotional and psychological abuse” and exposing him to hatred and ridicule.
They further accused him of defaming Governor Aiyedatiwa by claiming he had neglected his constituency and engaged in an extramarital affair with the state’s Finance Commissioner, Wunmi Isaac.
The police further alleged that Mr Odusola’s video was intended to incite public disaffection against the governor.
The charges were brought under Section 15(1)(2) of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAP) of Ondo State, Section 373 of the Criminal Code of Ondo State, and Section 24(a)(b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition) Act of the Federation of Nigeria.
However, Mr Odusola pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The police sought to have him remanded in Olokuta prison in Akure, but the magistrate granted him bail on self-recognition.
The trial was adjourned to 5 May.
Background
This newspaper reported that the police came after Mr Odusola days after he posted a video criticising the 2025 Ondo State budget, alleging that it marginalised his community, Ilaje Local Government Area—the state’s primary oil-producing region.
Speaking his native Ilaje language in the video posted on Facebook on 11 February, Mr Odusola expressed disappointment over the allocation of infrastructure projects.
He said that while Owo, the hometown of the late former Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, received 12 projects worth approximately N3 billion, Ilaje was only assigned one road project valued at N100 million.
“Marginalisation is real, and calling it out is not a crime,” Mr Odusola said in the video. “We will not be silenced.”
He further argued that Governor Aiyedatiwa, being the first Ilaje indigene to be governor of the state in its 47-year history, had a duty to prioritise the development of the area.
He noted with concern that if Governor Aiyedatiwa failed to take advantage of his position as the first governor from the area, the Ilaje people may never have such a chance again.
Although the petition’s author was not disclosed, Mr Odusola alleged that it was “not unconnected” to his video criticising the budget.
Opposition to cybercrime law
In the same video, Mr Odusola criticised a reported move by the Ondo State Attorney-General, Kayode Ajulo, to introduce a state-level cybercrime law.
“Those pushing for cyberstalking or cybercrime laws can proceed, but the people will not accept it,” he said, arguing that such legislation could be used to stifle dissent.
He described the move as an attempt to suppress freedom of speech, likening it to the federal cybercrime law, which has been used to prosecute journalists and activists in Nigeria.
“The same law that the federal government uses to silence critics is now being brought to Ondo State,” he warned.
Mr Odusola maintained that he had committed no crime, insisting that his statements were based on facts.
“We have a right to agitate against marginalisation—it is not a crime. The fact that Ilaje has been marginalised is a reality, and we have the right to speak out. That is freedom of speech. As long as I am not spreading falsehoods, I am protected,” he said.
Criticism
The case has drawn criticism to the governor, with a Lagos-based lawyer, Tope Temokun, who also hails from Ondo State, describing the charging of Mr Odusola on Tuesday as embarrassing.
He said it signalled a misplaced priority for the governor to be “so bothered about a criticism from a citizen” to quickly tool up the law “to stifle freedom of expression”.
He admonished the governor in a statement he shared on Facebook on Tuesday to acknowledge that since the assumption of that exalted office of the Governor of Ondo State, “your character has become a public property”.
He said the governor “must develop a thick skin if you don’t have one, for hot and unfriendly criticism from the people whose mandate you are holding.”
Defiantly, Mr Temokun said he and other lovers of the state would not leave the governor to run the business of the state by sheer wishes.
“We will put the governor on his toes every second for the task of good governance and for the good of our people,” the lawyer said.
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