Former Osun State Governor, Chief Bisi Akande, has claimed that former Oyo State Governor Rashidi Ladoja may have crucial information regarding the 2001 assassination of Chief Bola Ige, Nigeria’s former Attorney General and Minister of Justice.
In an interview with broadcaster Edmund Obilo, Akande pointed out that Lam Adesina, who was Oyo State governor at the time of the murder, had initiated a legal case but Ladoja withdrew it upon assuming office.
“Ask Ladoja; he would know more about Bola Ige’s death,” Akande stated, adding that key figures who could have shed light on the case, including Adesina, are now deceased.
Ige was shot dead on December 23, 2001, at his Ibadan residence, in what many believe was a politically motivated killing. Despite widespread calls for justice, no one has been convicted for the crime.
Akande criticized former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration for failing to properly investigate Ige’s murder, suggesting the government prioritized political stability over justice.
He also revealed that Bola Ige regretted joining Obasanjo’s cabinet, describing it as a “kiss of death.” However, he noted that the decision for Ige to serve as a minister was collectively made by the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and Afenifere.
Akande further disclosed that Ige had considered resigning before his assassination but was dissuaded from doing so.
“He was killed in anticipation of what he might become in the future. It was a state murder,” Akande alleged.
The Bola Ige assassination remains one of Nigeria’s most controversial unresolved political murders, with many still demanding answers more than two decades later.
