By Newsmata
A former governor of Osun State and pioneer national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande, has once again stirred the hornet’s nest in the yet unresolved high-profile murder of Nigeria’s one-time Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, putting on the spot former Oyo State governor, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, who he said would know more about the December 23, 2001 assassination.
However, in a swift reaction, Ladoja denied the claim, stating that Akande lied against him. He insisted he had no hidden knowledge about Ige’s death. He also denied withdrawing the case file from court as alleged.
At a press conference on Monday, Senator Ladoja, who is the Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland, demanded an apology from Akande over his false statement and threatened legal action if he did not retract it.
Newsmata recalls that Bola Ige, a chieftain of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) was appointed Minister of Mines and Power by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 and reassigned the portfolio of attorney general and minister of justice in 2000 when he could not make the desired impact in delivering on his promise to fix the country’s electricity problem in six months.
Akande disclosed that Ige later regretted joining Obasanjo’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration and thought of resigning.
In his no holds barred one-on-one chat with media personality, Edmund Obilo in Ibadan, Akande believed that Ige’s murder was politically motivated.
Though he said he did not believe Ige was interested in the Presidency at the time he was eliminated but was focused on ensuring someone from the AD contested, Chief Akande asserted that “He was killed in anticipation of what he might become in the future. It was a State murder. The government killed him. The government can kill anybody…
“I was the Chief Security Officer of Osun State, not Oyo. Lam Adesina was in charge in Oyo, and he took the case to court. But when Rashidi Ladoja became governor, he withdrew the case. He might know more than I do.”
Upbraiding the then government for having allegedly showed little interest in solving the murder, Akande said “Obasanjo wasn’t keen on investigating who killed Bola Ige but was interested in the stability of himself in power and possible continuance.”
He said if Ige ever trusted Obasanjo, he did so at his peril, adding that “since Ige was resigning from his government, I think Obasanjo stopped trusting him”.
Baba Akande, as he is fondly called, recalled a conversation where Ige confided in him about resigning.
“One evening, he just called me and said, ‘I’m going to resign from this government.’ I said, ‘Please sir, I will come back to you’. I called his friend, Oluwole Rotimi. He asked me to advise him (Ige) not to resign because if he does, he’s likely going to die.
“I called Uncle (Ige) back and begged him not to resign. He said he had talked to Wole Soyinka and Bola Tinubu and both of them had asked him to resign. I asked him not to resign. I then said, ‘You can go to Obasanjo, tell him what you are angry about and tell him that if he doesn’t want you again, this is your letter.’
“He actually did so. Obasanjo asked what he wanted him to do, and they both agreed. When he was leaving, Obasanjo said, ‘Don’t give that letter to the press, give it to me’ and he dropped the letter. Ige told me himself. It was later after that he was moved to the Ministry of Justice,” he said.
Chief Akande claimed not to know those behind the attack on the late chief law officer of the country in which his cap was removed at Ile-Ife.
“I wasn’t in the country at the time, but Ige told me about it. I advised him to focus on writing his memoir instead of attending social events. Unfortunately, he never got the chance”, he regretted.
Pained that he could not divulge certain information given him by late Lam Adesina, his then counterpart in Oyo State at the time Ige was murdered, Akande said, “There are many things that die with people. I know Lam Adesina went to court over the matter, and I also know his successor, (Rashidi) Ladoja withdrew the case. Ask Ladoja, he would know more about Bola Ige’s death.
“I was the Chief Security Officer of Osun State at the time, not Oyo State. Lam Adesina was the Chief Security Officer of Oyo State, and he went to court and the governor that took over from him, Ladoja, withdrew the case from court. He might be able to tell you more. I believe he has more information on Bola Ige’s death.
“Because there are many things you don’t want to tell the public. I don’t want to tell anybody. Now, Bola Ige is dead, and Lam Adesina too is dead, so who will be my witness? Nobody.
“I know Lam Adesina went to court on the matter and Ladoja withdrew the case from court. Ask Ladoja, he would know more about Bola Ige’s death”.
Going down memory lane how late Ige accepted the invitation to serve in Obasanjo’s government which he described as a “kiss of death”, Chief Akande disagreed that it was a mistake on his part, stating that it was a decision supported by both the Afenifere and the AD. He however disclosed that only Chief Ayo Adebanjo opposed Ige’s decision to join the government.
The former Osun State governor said, “I wouldn’t say it’s a mistake. We supported him in joining the government, I mean the Afenifere and the Alliance for Democracy.
“We met under the leadership of (Ayo) Fasanmi in AD. We met under the leadership of Abraham Adesanya in Afenifere, and we asked Bola Ige to join the government. Abraham Adesanya asked that we discussed the matter in the AD, and we met under Fasanmi, the chairman of AD in the South-West, and by acclamation, we asked Bola Ige to join the government.
“We supported him in joining the government. We met under the leadership of Ayo Fasanmi in AD and Abraham Adesanya in Afenifere, and we asked Bola Ige to join. It was a unanimous decision.”
Recalling how the former president opted for a government of national unity (GNU) at inception of his administration, Chief Akande said “Obasanjo met Bola Ige and asked him to join his government. Ige asked Obasanjo to tell his party. Before Obasanjo would inform the party, Ige himself had told the party, and we debated it and asked him to go and join.
“If anything so happens, we are all responsible. It was a joint decision. We held a meeting at Ijebu-Igbo, and we were unanimous, asking him to go. We held another meeting at AD and by acclamation, we asked him to go and join. So, if asking Bola Ige to join Obasanjo was a mistake, it’s a mistake of the Yoruba AD and Afenifere.”
He disagreed with the notion that late Ige had aligned with political adversaries of the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo, citing his own political trajectory.
Akande said, “Buhari sent me to prison, and I’m now in the APC with him. There are no permanent enemies in politics. We are in politics to win elections.”
Reacting to Akande’s explosive interview when he addressed journalists, Senator Ladoja said Akande lied against him.
Ladoja, who was Oyo State governor between 2003 and 2007, posited that “Chief Bola Ige was assassinated on December 23rd, 2001. I got to government on 29th of May 2003 which was 18 months after the assassination of Chief Bola Ige. I did not withdraw the case; my government did not withdraw any case.
“The case was even prosecuted till the apex court. Chief Akande lied against me; this is not his first time. People said he lied, someone like Baba Adebanjo even said he lied in his book.
“We all are not happy as a result of Chief Bola Ige’s death, and we are all concerned about his death. I was very close to Chief Bola Ige while he was alive.”
Challenging Akande to go public with details of any information he has over the death of Bola Ige, Senator Ladoja said “I don’t have any hidden knowledge about the death of Chief Bola Ige. I had no problem with Bola Ige.
“Maybe Chief Bisi Akande wants to sell his book. I don’t know. There is no correlation between my election and the death of Ige.
“He should come out and tell the public instead of maligning my image. But all options are open. As Otun Olubadan, I am no more a politician”.