Mr. Okikiola Layi-Balogun, one of the sons of a former presidential aspirant on the platform of the defunct Social Democratic Party, SDP, late Olayiwola Osuolale Balogun has declared that he was wrongly accused by his former tenant, Mr. Adekunle Taiwo.
DAILY POST had reported that Layi-Balogun was arraigned before Magistrate R.A. Richard of Ibadan Magistrate Court sitting in Iyaganku, over alleged house breaking and stealing by Mr. Adekunle Taiwo.
Layi-Balogun has, however, declared that he is not a criminal and is innocent of all what Taiwo accused him of.
While lamenting that no effort was made to obtain his reaction as required, he said that the place that he was accused of breaking into was his own house at old Bodija in Ibadan, a building built by his father and one that he grew up in.
He made these declarations via a statement made available to DAILY POST on Monday.
He maintained that Taiwo was his tenant in the boy’s quarters of the building from the year 2015 and immediately Taiwo entered the building, he started fighting with all the tenants regularly.
Layi-Balogun said that false charges were brought against him so the complaint would eventually be settled out of court to the tune of millions.
He added that the story of the alleged stealing has caused him so much pain for almost a decade.
Layi-Balogun lamented that he had applied for hundreds of jobs but was never employed as a result of the story.
He said, “My Name Is Okikiola Layi-Balogun, son of the late architect and politician, Olayiwola Osuolale Balogun. I did not expect being given the opportunity to say my side of the story, so for this opportunity I have, I am very grateful. I am Innocent of all what Mr. Adekunle Taiwo has accused me of. The said “place” that I was accused of breaking into was my own house at old Bodija in Ibadan, a building built by father and one that I grew up in.
“He was a tenant in the boy’s quarters of the building from the year 2015, right from the start he already had a problem with calling me his landlord while he was my tenant, because he is much older than I am, he preferred to call me his “landlord’s brother” as the building belonged to my elder brother Abiodun and I.
“In mid 2016, Mr Adekunle Taiwo’s rent had expired, he was notified appropriately ahead of time by the estate managers then, just like other tenants then but he was the only one that was unable to pay when the time came and not even for months after, it would later be revealed to us that he couldn’t afford to pay his rent and that the church which he was attending had been helping him pay his rent which made sense as to why a pastor was his guarantor, Mr Taiwo had also been unable to pay any of the bills for several months.
“He did not like the fact that I had authority over the affairs of the building and I had to remind him about his bills that were left unpaid, so he said that he will teach me a lesson and he also decided to exploit me by bringing false charges against me and taking it to the media so he would eventually be settled out of court to the tune of millions as he assumed my family was wealthy due to the popularity of my father, who was an architect and politician and who died in the year 2000.
“He succeeded in getting an article posted in 2017; that article has caused me so much pain for almost a decade as I have applied for hundreds of jobs but never employed as soon as they conduct a background check as simple as a Google search. Infact I got a job with one of the top companies in the world at the time. I passed the interview and was already congratulated on my new employment not until they got a whiff of the article about me and they rightly disengaged me.
“This is just one of many stories of what that article has done to my image and name and my life. I made the decision to go to court to defend my name at all costs and fight for justice as I am innocent. I feel trapped, I decided to do something even if it is to speak out and not die in silence. I Okikiola Layi-Balogun, I am Innocent of all the things Mr Adekunle Taiwo has accused me of. I am not A criminal.
“At the first court session, the petitioner’s lawyer saw me and came to apologize for his actions, noting that the picture Mr. Taiwo had painted of me and the on-going situation was far different from reality and he subsequently pulled out of the case. I stayed on in the case to make sure my name was cleared and I was vindicated.
“Due to various adjournments on the case in which Mr. Taiwo was did nor show up for most of it and another occasion of the matter having to start afresh after a few years, It took 8 years from 2016-2024 for the case to be settled.
“In 2017, Mr. Taiwo brought a host of journalists and photographers to the court and a libelous publication was made against my name regarding the court matter.
“We eventually settled out of court as the case had been dragging for too long and it was becoming a situation of where an accusation I have been completely innocent of was hurting my career and my reputation. The court also subsequently struck the case out for want of diligent prosecution. There is a Certified True Copy of the court’s ruling on this.
“Based on the above foregoing, I would like to state for the record that the publication made against me is completely false and is based on fabricated information by my tenant, Mr. Taiwo. I have done nothing wrong in respect of the details published about me.”
