The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has stated that the police was conniving with the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to stop him from retrieving what he described as his stolen mandate.

Barely a day to the September election, Adeleke was summoned by the Nigeria police over alleged examination malpractice and criminal conspiracy.

In a statement he personally signed and made available to reporters on Tuesday, the lawmaker claimed there is a plot to harass and intimidate him in order to disrupt the commencement of his petition before the election tribunal.

His statement read, “The police is in collusion with the APC in the plot to implicate me on trumped-up charges as a way of disrupting the commencement of our petitions before the Election Petition Tribunal.

“Their plan was originally to arrest me before the election so that I won’t be able to effectively participate at the governorship election but the court order and interventions stopped the evil agenda.

“Now that the APC knew the game is up and the stolen mandate is about to be retrieved, the party in collusion with the police has perfected a fresh plot to distract, harass and intimidate me. “Nigerians are aware that the so-called examination case is politically motivated.

“The public is aware of the many intimidation and attacks I have been subjected to before, during and now after the election. We stand by the people and we will not surrender their mandate to anti-democratic forces.”