Former Osun State Governor, Chief Bisi Akande, has stirred fresh controversy over the unresolved assassination of former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige. Akande believes that ex-Oyo State Governor, Rashidi Ladoja, may have crucial information about the murder.
In a revealing interview with veteran broadcaster Edmund Obilo in Ibadan, Akande lamented that key figures who might have shed light on the case, including late former Oyo Governor Lam Adesina, had passed away.
“There are things that die with people. I know Lam Adesina went to court over the matter, but his successor, Ladoja, withdrew the case. Ask Ladoja, he would know more about Bola Ige’s death,” Akande stated.
He recalled that as Osun State’s Chief Security Officer at the time, he had no jurisdiction over the case. However, Adesina, who was Oyo State’s governor then, pursued the matter in court before Ladoja later dropped the case.
Akande also revealed that Ige once confided in him about plans to resign from the government. He said he urged Ige to reconsider, recalling that Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka and then-Lagos Governor Bola Tinubu had advised Ige to step down. Eventually, Ige submitted a letter to President Olusegun Obasanjo, who convinced him to stay.
Speaking further, Akande insisted Ige’s killing was politically motivated.
“He was murdered because of what he could become in the future. It was a state killing. The government can eliminate anyone,” he alleged.
He also accused the Obasanjo administration of not being genuinely interested in solving the case.
“Ige trusted Obasanjo, but at his peril. After Ige considered resigning, I think Obasanjo stopped trusting him. He wasn’t keen on investigating his murder but was more focused on consolidating his own power,” Akande added.
Bola Ige, who served as Minister of Mines and Power before being reassigned as Minister of Justice, was assassinated at his Ibadan residence on December 23, 2001. Over two decades later, the case remains unresolved.
