Suspected fraud: Why Journalists Were Barred From Ondo Speaker’s Trial

Journalists in Ondo State were on Tuesday barred from the trial of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Bamidele Oleyelogun, who was arrainged before the State High Court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over financial impropriety.

The court is located at the Olokuta Correctional Centre in Akure, the state capital.

Public Relations Officer of the correctional centre, Mr Ogundare Babatunde, when contacted on phone corroborated the Squadron Commander, insisting that no journalists would be allowed into the court.

Oleyelogun and some members and officials of the Assembly were accused by Hon. Iroju Ogundeji, the deputy speaker of the Assembly, who was controversially removed, of collecting and sharing some money for a seminar in Lagos which they never attended.

Ogundeji had written EFCC to investigate the fund allegedly collected and shared by the speaker and others for a phoney seminar in Lagos.

But armed guards of the Olokuta Correctional Centre prevented journalists who were on ground to cover the court proceedings from gaining entry into the court.

A Squadron Commander, who manned the entry point, insisted that journalists could not be allowed into the facility because there was an order from Abuja that all correctional centres should be on red alert to prevent jailbreak.