A ministerial
nominee from Osun State, Oyewale Adesiyan, on Thursday made spirited effort to
clear his name from the accusation that linked him to the murder of a former
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige.
Ige was
assassinated in his Bodija home, Ibadan on December 23, 2001.
The drama
started when Senate President David Mark asked Adesiyan to give more personal
information that were not included in his curriculum vitae which he submitted
to the Senate.
The
nominee commended the senators for the opportunity offered him to stand
before them to speak as a ministerial nominee.
He noted that
he was one of those wrongly accused to have had a hand in Ige’s death.
He said, “It
may interest you distinguished senators to know that I am one of those wrongly
accused to have had a hand in the death of my mentor, Chief Bola Ige.
“It was all
political blackmail because I knew nothing about the death of Chief Bola Ige. I
was detained for three and half years for something I knew nothing about.
“I stand here
to say that I knew nothing about the death of Chief Bola Ige.”
He described
the late Ige as his political mentor whom he had no reason to kill.
His
submissions generated reactions among the senators including Senator
Ehigie Uzamere (Edo South) who interjected by raising up his hand to seek
Mark’s permission to question Adesiyan.
Mark granted
his request.
Uzamere said,
“Mr. Nominee, you mentioned in the course of your speech the death of Chief
Bola Ige. Can you swear by the Quran that you do not know anything about the
death of Bola Ige?”
The question
was protested by some of the senators who shouted that the Senate was not a
place of worship or a shrine where such oath could be taken.
But Uzamere
added, “You said that you did not kill Bola Ige, that you were accused wrongly
and detained for three and half years. We are in the same boat because I was
also detained.
“The question
I want you to answer is, did you kill Bola Ige? Did you have anything to do
with the death of Bola Ige? If the Holy Quran is not here as some senators
said, I want to ask you did you kill Bola Ige? What do you know about the death
of Bola Ige?”
The protest
persisted in the chamber but, Uzamere insisted that Adesiyan should
answer the questions and this made the Senate President to demand a response
from Adesiyan.
Adesiyan
said, “I thank Senator Uzamere for his questions. I do not know whether I can
be availed with a copy of the Holy Quran. But I maintain and say that I did not
kill Chief Bola Ige.
“I did not
have any reason to kill Chief Bola Ige but I was wrongly fingered to have
killed him. Chief Bola Ige sent me to United States for education, he was my
mentor. I am saying it today if Chief Bola Ige gave money to anybody, it is my
family and I.
“The reason I
was fingered was because as the Assistant Secretary of the Alliance for
Democracy, I changed (defected) to the PDP. Because of that, I was fingered and
punished as having something to do with the assassination of Chief Bola Ige.
“When I was
in detention, I used to pinch myself whether I was dreaming because I had
nothing to do with the death of Chief Bola Ige. It was all calculated political
blackmail.”
Apart from
Adesiyan, other ministerial nominees screened by the Senate on Thursday were a
former governor of Adamawa State, Boni Haruna, Dr. Khaliru Alhassan (Sokoto)
and Dr. Tamuno, Danagogo (Rivers).
Hajia Hadjia
Jamilla Salik (Kano) and Asabe Ahmed (Niger) did not appear for the screening.