- He recounted how a friend, Oluwole Rotimi, warned Ige against leaving Obasanjo’s cabinet as such move could cost him his life
A former interim Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bisi Akande, has shed more light on the circumstances surrounding the death of former Attorney General of the Federation, Bola Ige.
Akande revealed that the government has a hand in the assassination of Ige, adding that Ige’s murder was not unconnected to his decision to resigned from the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Akande made the revelation when he featured on Edmund Obilo’s podcast, State Affairs.
He recounted how a friend, Oluwole Rotimi, warned Ige against leaving Obasanjo’s cabinet as such move could cost him his life.
The former Osun State governor insisted that Ige did not make a mistake by joining Obasanjo’s administration because he had the blessing of Afenifere and the defunct Alliance for Democracy, AD.
“One evening, he called me and said he was going to resign from this government tomorrow. It was sudden, and I said, ‘Please sir, I will come back to you.’ I called Oluwole Rotimi, and this is what your friend told me: that he was going to resign from Obasanjo’s government tomorrow.
“He asked me to advise him not to resign because if he does, he is likely going to die—he said that to me on the phone. I called Uncle (Ige) and begged him not to resign.”
Akande said Wole Soyinka and Bola Tinubu asked Ige to resign when he told them as he no longer trusted Obasanjo.
“He said he had talked to Wole Soyinka and Bola Tinubu, and both of them said he should resign. But I said, ‘Don’t. You can go to Obasanjo, tell him what you are angry about, and if he doesn’t want you anymore, here is your letter.’”
On Ige trusting Obasanjo, Akande said: “Since he was resigning from his government, I think he stopped trusting him.”
When asked who killed Bola Ige, Akande said:
“I don’t know. He was killed in Oyo State while I was ruling in Osun State. The government killed him (Bola Ige). It was a state murder.
“Lam Adesina, who was the Chief Security Officer of Oyo State then, went to court, and Ladoja withdrew the case from court. He might know more and be able to tell you.
“It was the government that killed him, and the government can kill anybody.
“Obasanjo wasn’t keen about Ige’s death; he was more interested in the stability of himself.”