Twelve years after the gruesome murder
of Bola Ige, former attorney general of the
federation, in his bedroom at his Bodija,
Ibadan residence on December 23, 2001,
politics in Osun State is still being
moderated by issues surrounding the
mysterious assassination.
Although the Nigeria Police had assured
Nigerians that it would get to the root of
the matter and unmask the brains behind
the murder, nothing concrete has come
out of the investigations.
Many people have gone in and out of the
court over the matter. At a point, Ige’s
family elected to discontinue with the
court case asking the state to continue if it
wished.
One of those still having the scar of
allegation of complicity over Ige’s death is
Iyiola Omisore, a two-term member of the
Senate (2003-2011). The senator was
among those who were arrested and
charged to court over the assassination of
the man fondly called the Cicero of Esa-
Oke. After some years, Omisore was
discharged and acquitted by the court.
However, the acquittal has done nothing
to change the perception of some people
of him.
At one time or another, there have been
comments and innuendos to drag him to
the issue of Ige’s death.
For instance, when it became obvious that
Omisore was preparing to contest the
governorship of Osun State, Ige family
issued a statement that an aspirant
wanted to parade a fictitious member of
the family who would exonerate him from
their father’s killing. Recently also,
Muyiwa, the eldest son of Bola Ige, who is
currently the commissioner for Lands and
Physical Planning in Osun State, had
during a recent interview said his father’s
ghost would continue to haunt those who
killed him.
Although he did not mention names,
Omisore said the finger-pointing was
toward his direction.
By the same token, Rauf Aregbesola,
governor, Osun State, who is seeking re-
election on the platform of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) and some
civil society groups had earlier in the year
called on the Federal Government to
revisit the trial of Ige murder suspects.
Again, Omisore said that the governor
was alluding to him, urging him to provide
new evidence which linked him with the
killing. According to him, “If there are
fresh facts why didn’t they appeal the
judgment on Ige’s murder over these
years, why now that election timetable
was released by INEC?”
Pundits say that until the gubernatorial
election is over, Ige’s murder will remain
a strong campaign point, particularly
between the APC and the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) candidates.
According to them, while the APC will be
trying to make political capital out of it,
telling the people why they should not
vote the PDP candidate, the latter on the
other hand will be defending himself,
trying profusely to impress it upon the
voting masses that his hands are clean.
A commentator told BDSUNDAY that the
call on the Federal Government to reopen
the Ige murder may not be heeded if it is
aimed at opening the books and re-
arresting the likes of Omisore, who has on
his own re-opened the case at the Federal
High Court, Ibadan, challenging his
“malicious prosecution” and demanding
N2 billion as damages.
Like in Ekiti State where the selection of
Ayo Fayose as PDP flag bearer for the
gubernatorial election billed for June 21,
is drawing flaks from members of the
opposition who see the decision as
infantile and indicative of PDP’s tolerance
for thuggery, the emergence of Omisore as
the PDP candidate for the August 9
election in Osun has also been described
as symptomatic of the ruling party’s
penchant for absurdity.
Omisore emerged from an array of
aspirants who competed for the slot in a
primary conducted in Osogbo, the state
capital, under the supervision of Adamu
Aliero as chairman of the gubernatorial
primary election. Omisore reportedly
polled 1,128, while Wole Oke had five
votes; Olasunkanmi Akinlabi had 35 votes
and Adetunji Adeleke had no vote.
Again, like what happened in Ekiti, the
APC government in Osun scoffed at the
result of the primary and said the
umbrella party made a grievous mistake
by choosing Omisore.
Describing the primary, which Omisore
won as a kangaroo exercise, the APC said:
“We all expected it, even his co-aspirant
has had to withdraw from the race
because the candidate and his gang will
stop at nothing including violence to pick
his party’s ticket. And he already has it.
However, that development makes things
easier for the APC because with an
Omisore, the PDP has a candidate that
lacks pedigree, credibility, responsibility
and focus.”
Reacting to APC claim, Diran Odeyemi,
Omisore’s director of Media and Publicity,
said: “We don’t expect them to meddle
into our affair. The emergence of Omisore
at the gubernatorial primary is purely a
PDP affair and does not concern the APC.
They should go and face their campaign
and let the electorate decide who would
be their governor during the election.”
A PDP stalwart, who spoke with our
correspondent on the choice of Omisore
said when going to war, an army goes with
its best soldiers, and that a good coach
goes for a competition with his first
eleven.
“Politics is not played on the basis of
sentiments. You must field your best
candidate. When going for a football
match, you go with your first eleven. You
don’t go to war, for instance, with
students of the Nigerian Defence Academy
(NDA), but you go with experienced
soldiers. In the case of Senator Iyiola
Omisore, a two-term senator is not a
political neophyte. He is astute and knows
the rule of the game. He is capable of
governing a state. PDP don’t just give
anybody ticket to go and preside over a
state”, the source said.
On the allegation trailing the candidate,
the source said: “PDP is not a court of law.
It is a political association. It is not
possible for the party to punish or limit an
innocent person’s ambition based on mere
allegations. Nobody has found Omisore
guilty in relation to Ige’s murder. So until
and unless a court of competent
jurisdiction convicts a man of wrong
doing, what is said in the market square
about him does not make him a guilty
person.”
A member of PDP in Lagos State, who
craved anonymity, said from the reaction
of the APC in Osun following the
emergence of Omisore, it appeared that
the broom party was jittery.
“I took time to read Governor Kayode
Fayemi’s reaction to the emergence of
Ayo Fayose as PDP flag bearer in Ekiti
State; the governor was accusing the
national secretariat and the Presidency of
supporting thuggery and all that. Again,
the emergence of Senator Omisore has
become a big issue among the APC in
Osun. What it means is that the governors
of Ekiti and Osun recognise the
capabilities of Fayose and Omisore in
their individual states. Now, if they say
they have done wonderfully to please the
people of their states through the
provision of the democracy dividends,
there should be no need for them to feel
threatened. And come to think of it, they
have the incumbency advantage; so it is
clear that they are not really confident of
themselves. If Omisore is as unpopular as
his state government wants people to
believe, the ballot box is there to prove
that in August”, the PDP man said.
However, Ola Thompson, who claims to
hail from Osun State, said it was doubtful
if the people of the state, because of the
Ige’s matter, would elect Omisore as their
governor.
“In Nigeria, a man is guilty even before he
is proven so by a law court. Sometimes,
even if a man is proven innocent, it does
not change the perception of people who
had already found him guilty. For
Omisore, the stigma is there. Even though
he had won elections twice to be at the
National Assembly, he only represented a
senatorial district; it is different from
seeking votes from various parts of the
state. Well, in Nigerian politics, it is said
that the more you look, the less you see,”
Thompson said.
Source:
www.businessdayonline.com/2014/04/osun-poll-iges-murder-resonates-as-apc-pdp-test-might/

Stale!!!

with an Omisore, the PDP has a candidate that
lacks pedigree, credibility, responsibility
and focus.”

@Omisore

#BringBackBolaIge

lakpalakpa:



@Omisore

#BringBackBolaIge

@lakpalakpa
#provehowIgewasmurdered.