Major-General (Rtd) Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola

Major-General (Rtd) Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola (b. 3 Feb 1951, Okuku, Osun State) is a retired Nigerian Army officer turned politician whose career spans the IBB/Abacha military era through the Fourth Republic. He served as Military Administrator of Lagos State from 10 December 1993 to 22 August 1996 under the Abacha regime, during which period he managed civilian unrest following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election won by M.K.O. Abiola. After retiring from the army he contested and won the Osun State governorship on the PDP platform, serving from 29 May 2003 until 26 November 2010, when a five-member Court of Appeal panel in Ibadan led by Justice Clara Ogunbiyi unanimously nullified results in ten of Osun's thirty local government areas (Atakumosa, Ayedaade, Boluwaduro, Boripe, Ife Central, Ife East, Ife South, Ifedayo, Isokan and Odo-Otin) and declared Rauf Aregbesola of the Action Congress of Nigeria the duly elected governor with 198,799 votes against 172,880 ascribed to Oyinlola. The corruption-related allegations against Oyinlola crystallised after he left office: (a) In February 2012 a panel set up by the Aregbesola administration indicted Oyinlola and former Permanent Secretary of the Osun Bureau of Computer Services and Information Technology Abiodun Oladapo over an alleged N2.5 billion fraud in the Bureau between 2005 and March 2011, with companies including MMS, Artech Ventures Ltd, Worldwide Computers and Brian Integrated System allegedly used to siphon funds through 76 splitting vouchers totalling N441 million out of N853 million spent in the bureau; the Osun government announced it would refer the dossier to the EFCC for interrogation and prosecution. (b) A separate Commission of Inquiry chaired by Professor Femi Odekunle investigated the N18.38 billion UBA loan obtained by Oyinlola's administration on 17 May 2010 (six months before he was sacked, with about N10 billion drawn down), finding him guilty of taking the loan in 'non-emergency circumstances,' for 'irrational application' and 'reckless disbursement,' and for approving an 'unthinking Memorandum of Understanding that had turned out to be a fraud against the state.' Former Head of Service Segun Akinwusi testified that he 'vehemently opposed' the loan. The flagged ICPC N1.7bn/N5bn/N7bn FHC Lagos case referenced in audit notes could not be independently corroborated against the listed credible outlets; what is verifiable is the Osun State indictments and the EFCC referral, plus the panel's adverse findings on the UBA loan, neither of which has produced a confirmed criminal arraignment at the Federal High Court as of the latest reporting reviewed. Oyinlola has consistently denied wrongdoing, publicly responding to Aregbesola's allegations in a 30 May 2011 Sahara Reporters statement ('My Response To Aregbesola's Lies') and, in December 2021, accusing his predecessor Bisi Akande of lying and claiming an Akande appointee had 'confessed that state funds were used for 2003 campaign' against him. He was also removed as PDP National Secretary by the Federal High Court Abuja in January 2013 after his March 2012 South West Congress was nullified, defected to APC in 2014, dumped APC in May 2018, and has since aligned with Obasanjo-driven coalition politics. Status remains 'alleged' pending any confirmed criminal arraignment or court outcome.