Omisore speaks on Bola Ige’s murder, Obasanjo, Soyinka

The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Iyiola Omisore, has described as “unnecessary propaganda”, the mentioning of him as a prime suspect in the murder of Bola Ige by the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka.

Omisore expressed displeasure that a decade after the Bola Ige murder case, Prof. Soyinka still referred to him as a prime suspect, despite being cleared by the court.

The APC National Secretary described the accusation as “an unnecessary propaganda some drowning politicians are trying to spread.”

Prof. Soyinka had in a statement over the weekend said Omisore’s endorsement as APC Secretary by President Muhammadu Buhari would hinder judicial inquiries into Bola Ige’s death because the former deputy governor of Osun State is a prime suspect in the murder case.

However, Omisore, while reacting to the accusation via a statement by his office, said some “drowning politicians” were spreading propaganda against him.

The former deputy governor noted that if the court has vindicated a man, “it is naive of him after nearly a decade to link Senator Iyiola Omisore to further search.”

Omisore added that “civil and criminal law knowledge should tell professor to ask his cousin, OBJ for the murder.”

He said: “The world is aware of the framing of Senator Iyiola Omisore and his travails and trials facing murder charges and his subsequent acquittal and discharge, almost a decade ago by a competent court of the land.

“So, how come any man, can still refer to him as a possible suspect? The Prof is very wrong to say all that. It takes wickedness to spread the statements.

“It is part of history and we are not too young, when we read of him, that professor too carried a gun into a Radio station; a criminal offense against the state. Yet, we continue to honour him.

READ ALSO: APC leadership: Stop the false narrative

“Can we also forget that Prof was appointed the chairman of education summit that gave birth to a single uniform for all secondary and primary schools and Opon Imo, during the tenure of Rauf Aregesola as governor of Osun State. A failed Education Policy that history will not readily forget.”

Omisore cautioned Soyinka to stay clear of politics and not allow “drowning politicians” to use him to fight a cause the Nobel Laureate knows nothing about.

The APC National Secretary added that Soyinka in 2004 accused Obasanjo’s government of complicity in the death of Bola Ige by referring to the government as a “nest of killers”

Omisore, who noted that he was not a member of cabinet in Obasanjo’s government, stressed that the record shows that he and others were tried for two and half years and later discharged and acquitted by the court.

He noted: “The recent volte face of Soyinka on the Bola Ige matter gives one a cause for concern. First, I was not a member of cabinet in Obasanjo’s government and second, a court of competent jurisdiction had set me and others free after a grueling two and half years trial with N2 billion damages awarded still unpaid by the state government.

“Besides, why has Omisore/Bola Ige matter become an issue of campaigns and elections deliberately used by Omisore’s opponents to undermine his influence?

“Or, are some people who are worried by the erudite and strong personality and capacity of Omisore as National Secretary using Soyinka to settle scores or pursue their political ambitions?

“Politics is a game and an avenue to serve and the Nobel Laureate can throw his hat in the ring if he so wishes instead of making unsubstantiated claims and causing confusion here and there, acts, that don’t befit his international recognition as an elder and statesman,” the APC National Secretary stated.

The Star