The Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Oyelola Ashiru, has denied the drug dealing allegation levelled against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Ashiru, who represents Kwara South Senatorial District under the All Progressives Congress (APC), made this known in a statement issued by his spokesman, Olaitan Adeyanju, on Monday, October 21, 2024.

The NDLEA had, at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, said illicit drugs were recovered from Ashiru’s house in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, in February 2024.

The allegation came on the heels of Ashiru’s declaration on the Senate floor that the NDLEA is corrupt.

Adeyanju stated: “We find it preposterous and mere fishing for justification that NDLEA had to wait for the senator’s observation on the floor of the Senate before making its spurious allegations.

“As a matter of fact, Ashiru never employed any aid bearing Ibrahim Mohammed and Mohammed Yahaya as bandied by NDLEA.

“The agency claimed that its operatives visited the senator’s Ilorin house and found nothing incriminating.

“The entire house was searched and nothing incriminating was found. If any drugs were found on certain persons mentioned by the NDLEA, it is rational to ask at which court of law were the culprits charged.

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“It is also important to state that Senator Ashiru has not sent any aide to the NDLEA to influence the dropping of drug allegations against anyone known as Tosin Odepidian.

“Indeed, all the names mentioned by the agency are strange and none works directly or indirectly with Ashiru.

“The NDLEA has the duty to take anyone suspected of drug dealing to court rather than name-calling and engaging in media trial.

“This clarification aims to set the record straight and address the misleading information circulated by the NDLEA.

“It is an open secret that many criminals, cultists, armed robbers, and drug addicts find their way back into business after gratifying law enforcement officers.

‘The NDLEA ought to search its house and fish out bad eggs rather than seeking cheap publicity.

“Ashiru remains committed to serving the people of Kwara South and upholding the truth at all times in the search for strict professionalism among our law enforcement agencies.”

The Star