Posted by By TOPE ADEBOBOYE on
Daughter of the late Chief Bola Ige, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mrs. Funsho Adegbola, says that President Olusegun Obasanjo's persistent allusion to the death of the late minister in recent days was a strong affirmation that he is being haunted by Ige's ghost.
Daughter of the late Chief Bola Ige, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mrs. Funsho Adegbola, says that President Olusegun Obasanjo's persistent allusion to the death of the late minister in recent days was a strong affirmation that he is being haunted by Ige's ghost.
Obasanjo had recently, while justifying Ige's movement to the Justice Ministry from Mines and Power, described the deceased as a man "who didn't know his right from his left."
Also last weekend, Obasanjo told listeners on a Radio Nigeria programme that fresh evidence had indicated that Ige was killed on the orders of some drug barons being prosecuted by his ministry.
Ige, then a sitting minister, was murdered by yet-to-be-identified gunmen in his Ibadan home on December 23, 2001. The Federal Government has, since then, been severally criticized for its handling of the case.
In a press statement, Adegbola urged Nigerians to reject Obasanjo's latest remarks on Ige, which she dismissed as a distraction.
"Mr. President wants to deceive the nation and the whole world because he is being haunted by the ghost of Ige. We should remember that the murderers are here and in our midst and the ‘nest of killers' are attempting to foist a diversion. We are not deterred and we believe that God is on his throne," she said.
Adegbola, while decrying the persistent reference made to a dead man "who unfortunately is not alive to defend himself," said, however, that her late father's memory could never be stained or blotted out.
The statement reads further: "Mr. President, in the last few weeks of his eight-year reign, has been talking about the late Bola Ige, former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of the Federation. I had to restrain myself from responding to his unfair judgment of a dead man, who, unfortunately, is not alive to defend himself stoutly. In the president's response to a question about his regime's dismal failure in the energy sector, he referred to the minister in charge of that ministry, who he had to move, as ‘he didn't know his right from his left.'
This article was brought to my notice and my children and I read it. It was a most unfortunate and unjust comment. I immediately wanted to write a rejoinder but I restrained myself. Firstly, there was no direct mention of Bola Ige. It was only by inference that one could deduce the intended reference. Secondly, Ige was only in Power and Steel Ministry for one year, during which he unfolded his 'power creed' for all Nigerians to share his vision for the power sector. However, 'landmines and cogs in the wheel' were already planted there for him. For instance, some key officers in the ministry's parastatal were foisted on Ige. There were many powerful forces against him, sabotaging his efforts, thus culminating in a systems collapse.
"Ige wanted to resign then but instead the president moved him to the Ministry of Justice, on 2 June 2000. Five years after Ige's murder and seven years after Ige left the ministry, there have been multiple collapses of the national grid, culminating in several national blackouts and total gloom even during the 'moonslide election/selection' of 2007. I wonder, 'who obviously doesn't know his left from his right?' Were Ige to be alive, he would defend himself more eloquently and creditably than his accuser. I decided at that time that silence was the best answer in such a situation.
"However, Mr. President's latest remarks about Ige's murder have added insult to the injury meted to Ige's family on 23 December 2001. Just before Ige's fifth memorial, in December 2006, the Inspector- General, a lawyer who should know better, informed the Nigerian public that Ige's murder case was closed. I replied that a murder case is not statute-barred. It, therefore, came as a rude surprise to learn from our all-knowing President, in a question and answer session, that he has further and better particulars, additional evidence that Ige was assassinated on the instructions of drug barons. May I ask: ‘Mr. President, when were you apprised of this evidence? Were you aware of these facts at the time when all the 12 accused persons were discharged and acquitted, and 'nolle prosequi' filed by the then Attorney-General of Oyo State?
Were these facts available on May 29, 2003 when Mr. President was sworn in with his party's new senators? Pray thee, Mr. President, did you know this on 10 April 2003 when Justice Atinuke Ige, retired Justice of the Court of Appeal, died as a result of miscarriage of justice in her husband's murder trial?'.
"As the president prepares to leave Aso Rock for his Ota farm, it is obvious that one of the big stains on his eight-year tenure, the assassination of the sitting Attorney-General, is not going to go away. The last has not been heard about this murder. We all shall know the truth and only then can we be truly free. My father once told me, one will need a bigger lie to cover the first one. Mr. President wants to deceive the nation and the whole world because he is being haunted by the ghost of Ige. We should remember that 'the murderers are here and in our midst' and the 'nest of killers' are attempting to foist a diversion. We are not deterred and we believe that God is on His throne…
"We know for a fact that this issue of a drug trial was on as of the time Ige handed over his letter of resignation to Mr. President on Wednesday, December 19, 2001. In the letter, Ige highlighted this case, the Bakassi case (how it would be won), the Abacha case, the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that was to be published, his resumption at the International Law Commission on January 8, 2002, which was never to be, and his intention to go back home to consolidate his political base. So there is nothing new about the case Mr. President is referring to and can only serve as a distraction from unearthing the whole truth and nothing but the truth. We categorically urge Nigerians and the whole world to reject this distraction as it is only a 'red herring'. We demand the truth and the whole truth about this murder and all other political murders.
"Ige's legacy lives and will continue to live on. The cherished memory of Bola Ige can never be stained or blotted out. It is they that have no good legacy to leave behind after they shall have gone that are now grabbing at straws and attempting to deceive the world. He that sows the wind will surely reap the whirlwind.
"The family and true friends of Bola Ige have been through a lot in the past five-and-a-half years. The pain is still as fresh as the first day and we don't need further gloating at the anguish already inflicted. On 29 May 2007, Mr. President will leave his exalted seat in Aso Rock, but we remain unshakable in our faith and hope in God Almighty who remains on His throne. He is the ultimate judge and our divine advocate. We are assured and comforted that on the Day of Judgment, God Almighty will judge all. Vengeance is His and He will surely avenge, even to the fourth generation."