Former Oyo State governor, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, has opened up about his impeachment saga, revealing the identity of the powerful person that sacked him as governor.
Oba Ladoja, while fielding questions on a Fresh FM radio programme anchored by Isaac Brown, revealed that contrary to the belief that it was the late Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu and his erstwhile deputy, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala that that caused his removal, it was actually former President Olusegun Obasanjo that impeached him.
“You see, some people said, it was Akala, it was Adedibu. No, it was not any of them. It was Obasanjo,” he recalled.
Narrating the story of the event that shook the country, Ladoja recalled his experience with Chief Obasanjo and how he went along other Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors like Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Chief Gbenga Daniel and Dr Segun Agagu to beg the former president in Abeokuta no to go ahead with the plan to impeach him.
“It was during the time of Ileya [Muslim festival Eid-el-Kabir]. We went to see Baba Obasanjo. I think it was on a Friday or Saturday that we went to see him in Abeokuta. I was there with Oyinlola, Daniel and Agagu.
“We did not call Fayose, because we knew that Fayose was Baba’s son. So they knelt down and I knelt down with them. They were begging him, ‘Baba, please, let Ladoja be’.
“Baba then said ‘Rashidi, go and resign!’ I said ‘No, I won’t resign!’ He said, ‘if you don’t resign, you would be removed’. I said ‘No, they cannot do it.’ He said ‘why’”. I said ‘because you cannot get two-thirds.’
“He said ‘two-thirds my foot’ and then he left the place in fury. [Gbenga] Daniel ran after him.
“While we were reflecting on what we were going to do, myself, Agagu and Oyinlola, a man came in; it was the former World Court Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola.
“He said ‘what is wrong with you?’ He said ‘I know your problem. Your problem is that you don’t want Ladoja to be impeached. They [Oyinlola, Agagau and Daniel said yes.
“Justice Ajibola said ‘well, I’ve talked about it to Segun, he’s just adamant. He said ‘but you’re leaders in your own rights. There comes a time when you must have to stand up and fight.’
“Then he told us the story of ‘Jafitafita’. The story of ‘Jafitafita’ is simple. It is about tortoise and his wife, yannibo.”
Oba Ladoja revealed further that Prince Ajibola helped him a lot in his legal battle to reclaim his mandate.
“I must put it on record that Prince Ajibola did wonderfully for us because he told us exactly what to do: we “jafitafita”.
“ When eventually we got the judgement of the Appeal Court. Baba said no. People said this is a declarative judgement; he said they going to stay its execution. And eventually, it stayed until the Supreme Court confirmed the judgement of the Court of Appeal.”