By Emmanuel Adeleke
Former governor of Oyo State, Oba Rashidi Ladoja has named former President Olusegun Obasanjo as the brain behind his impeachment in January 2006.
The Otun Olubadan of Ibadan disclosed this while speaking on Fresh 105.9 FM, as part of his 80th birthday celebration, on Saturday.
While interacting with the anchor, Mayor Isaac Brown, the former governor was asked to summarise his experience when he was impeached.
Responding, Ladoja said: “Impreachment! You see some people said it was Otunba Alao-Akala, some said it was Chief Lamidi Adedibu, No! It was not any of them. It was former President Olusegun Obasanjo and I told him that he failed. I told him to his face that he failed, because the fact that I was able to come back while you are still in office and there was nothing you could do about it means you have failed.
“I said politics in democratic setting is a game of rules. Just like football, you can’t stand in offside and said you scored, unless the referee is bias. I said the fact that they said you can only impeach by 2/3 of the majority, including the Speaker. I was able to have 14 out of 32 members.
“It was during Sallah that we went to see Obasanjo in Abeokuta. I was there with former Osun State Governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola; former Ogun State Governor, Gbenga Daniel; and former Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Agagu. We didn’t call the former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, because we knew that Fayose was Obasanjo’s son.
“They knelt down and I joined them to let the sleeping dog lie, and Obasanjo said Rashidi, go and resign and I said no, I won’t resign. He said if you don’t resign, you will be removed and I said you cannot do it. He said why? I said he can’t get 2/3 and he said 2/3 my foot and he left the place in furry. So, Gbenga ran after him.
“When we were reflecting on what to do—myself, Agagu, Oyinlola—the former World Court judge, Bola Ajibola came in and 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 and they said yes. He said I have talked about it with Agagu but he is just adamant.
“He said, but there comes a time when you must have to stand up and fight. He said you have to go to court, make as much noise as you can, so that the whole world will know something is happening in Oyo State and that is exactly what we did,” he said.
