Former Oyo State governor, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, has shed light on his impeachment saga, naming former President Olusegun Obasanjo as the powerful figure responsible for his removal from office.
In an interview on a Fresh FM radio program hosted by Isaac Brown, Ladoja addressed longstanding misconceptions surrounding his impeachment.
He clarified that it was widely believed that the late Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu and his former deputy, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, orchestrated his ousting.
However, Ladoja contended that the true architect of his impeachment was, in fact, Obasanjo.
He said, “You see, some people said, it was Akala, it was Adedibu. No, it was not any of them. It was Obasanjo.”
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.
He added “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.
Ladoja said, “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.”