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A former governor of Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande, has raised fresh concerns about the unresolved assassination of former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, asserting that former Oyo State Governor, Rashidi Ladoja, may have vital information regarding the murder.
In an explosive interview with the ace broadcaster, Edmund Obilo, in Ibadan, which was released at the weekend, Akande lamented that key figures who might have shed more light on the case, including a former Oyo State governor, Lam Adesina, had died.
“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,” Akande said.
He regretted that Lam Adesina told him many things which he may not be able to disclose.
“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,” he insisted.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed Ige as Minister of Mines and Power, between 1999 and 2000 and when he was not able to make significant improvements to the service provided by the monopolistic National Electric Power Authority, Ige was redeployed as Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation between 2000 and 2001.
The former minister was assassinated on December 23, 2001, at his Ibadan, Oyo State residence.
Akande claimed that Bola Ige, being a chieftain of the opposition Alliance for Democracy, regretted joining the Obasanjo’s Peoples Democratic Party’s administration, describing it as a “kiss of death.”
When asked whether it was a mistake for Ige to have joined Obasanjo’s administration, Akande disagreed, stating that the decision was a collective one made by Afenifere and the Alliance for Democracy.
“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.”
Akande said when Obasanjo came to power, he wanted to form a Government of National Unity, a government of every party available and, therefore, consulted Ige to join him.
“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.”
Akande debunked claims that Chief Ayo Adebanjo was the acting chairman of the AD at the time, insisting that Fasanmi held that position.
He also pointed out that Adebanjo opposed Ige’s decision to join the government but had no supporters.
Responding to the idea that Bola Ige had aligned with political adversaries of Obafemi Awolowo, Akande dismissed such notions by citing his own political journey.
“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.”
The pioneer/interim National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress 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,” Akande said.
He emphasised that Ige’s murder was politically motivated.
“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,” he said.
He noted that Oyo State, not Osun State, was the jurisdiction of the crime.
“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.”
He accused the Obasanjo administration of showing little interest in solving the murder.
Akande said if Ige ever trusted Obasanjo, he did at his peril, adding that “since Ige was resigning from his government, I think Obasanjo stopped trusting him.
“Obasanjo wasn’t keen on investigating who killed Bola Ige, but was interested in the stability of himself in power and possible continuance.”
Regarding the attack on Ige before his murder, in which his cap was publicly removed, Akande admitted he did not know the perpetrators.
“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.”
When asked about Ige’s political ambitions, Akande said he did not believe Ige was interested in the Presidency at the time of his death but was focused on ensuring someone from AD contested.
When contacted at about 12 pm on Sunday, Ladoja’s media aide, Adeola Oloko, asked our correspondent to call back at 6pm for his reaction.
However, when called back at 6 pm, Oloko said, “I will get back to you as soon as I have his response to the issue at hand.”
On his part, Obasanjo’s media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, neither picked up the calls placed to his mobile line on Sunday nor responded to a WhatsApp message.
