Issa Aremu dragged to court over alleged forgery, defamation

A senior staff of the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS) Ilorin, Mr. Ezekiel Ayorinde, has dragged the new Director-General of the institute, Mr. Issa Aremu, to court, accusing him of forgery, criminal intimidation, and defamation.

In a petition, filed by Yussuf Mashood Agboola & Co. on behalf of Ayorinde, Ayorinde claimed that Aremu’s actions have not only violated due process but also endangered his life and family.

According to the petition addressed to the Magistrate Court sitting in Ilorin, Aremu left office after his initial tenure expired and officially handed over to Ayorinde, who, as the most senior officer, took over in line with civil service rules.

He noted that Ayorinde, while acting as Director-General, “constituted a procurement planning committee and made publications in two national dailies and the federal journal in full compliance with the Procurement Act.”

He alleged that before officially resuming as Director-General on June 23, 2025, Aremu “illegally convened a fake procurement planning committee report” which led to two contradicting publications being released by the same institute.

The petition further stated that the Bureau of Public Procurement had warned Aremu to follow due process and correct his actions.It also noted that the matter had already resulted in litigation before the Federal High Court, Ilorin, where both Aremu and Ayorinde are defendants in a pending suit.“

All members of the procurement planning committee insisted that Mr. Aremu lacked the power to cancel the outcome of a legally constituted committee while he was not in office,” the petition read.

He accused Aremu of attempting to impose his associate, Engineer Adeyemi Adegoke of King and Associate Consulting Company, on the committee “for his personal interest.”

When that failed, the petition alleged, Aremu resorted to defaming and threatening Ayorinde. “He said our client led a conspiracy of the procurement committee against him,” the lawyers claimed.

The petition quoted Aremu as allegedly boasting that he would “go to Abuja to buy his way around and come back to deal with all the committee members, especially our client, who would even pay the supreme price.”

“Our client could no longer sleep with his two eyes closed simply because he believes Mr. Aremu can do what he said,” the petition added.

It stressed that Ayorinde, as the breadwinner of his family, feared for his life and sought protection from the court.

He urged the Magistrate Court to charge Aremu in line with Sections 396, 391, and 364 of the Penal Code Law of Nigeria.