A former governor of Oyo State, Rashidi Ladoja has narrated how he got into trouble with his then political godfather late Chief Lamidi Adedibu and the role played by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to remove him from office in 2006.

The former governor was impeached in January 2006 but reinstated in December 2006 after a court battle.

In an interview with The Punch, Ladoja who just clocked 75 years, said his trouble started when he told Obasanjo ‘the truth’ about his infamous third term agenda.

He said to punish him for not supporting the agenda which Obasanjo denied, the former president threatened to make him a nobody and also ordered him to resign otherwise he would be humiliated out of office, “if God allows,” was Ladoja’s response to the threat.

Ladoja said for the role Obasanjo played in his impeachment ordeal, 13 of Adedibu and Adebayo Alao-Akala his then deputy couldn’t have impeached him because he was confident they couldn’t get the required number of lawmakers to go through with the impeachment process.

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“I have said it many times that 13 of Baba (Adedibu) and (Otunba Christopher) Alao-Akala couldn’t have impeached me. The rule of impeachment is that you must have two-thirds majority in the House of Assembly and I knew there was no way I could have less than one-third. There was one (thing) that actually made the impeachment possible, it was Obasanjo’s third term agenda. Obasanjo knew there was no way I would be around and the House of Assembly would pass an amendment to the constitution, allowing a third term for the President. That was why Ladoja had to go,” the former governor said.

He narrated:

“And I also made a mistake, maybe it was a mistake or maybe it wasn’t. I knew Obasanjo before I became Oyo State governor. I used to visit him in Ota after he left government and we were very close, so when I heard about third term agenda, I asked Baba if it was true and he asked who told me. I said does it really matter who told me? I said it’s a question of whether it’s true. He said it was not true and I said thank God. And I said ‘Baba, I would have said maybe you don’t know God. I said God made it possible for you to be President for eight years and this is a Presidency you were not qualified for.’ He said, ‘not qualified, am I not a Nigerian or was I not of age’? I said ‘no, Baba, you know that in a democratic regime, presidency is meant for politicians and you are not a politician, they came to call you. I said there was a time you asked me what (Shehu Musa) Yar’Adua was looking for in government (and) what did he forget in the Government House? Secondly, with presidential system of government, you must have lots of your own money for election. You just came out of prison and had no money. And with all those minuses, God said you would be the President for eight years, let God be the one who would decide the next president.’ He said ‘thank you very much, I appreciate it.’

“He knew I told him the truth and I was convinced I told him the truth. At the end of it, he also said he didn’t even ask for a third term, which is not true. He did. So when I got home in the evening, the then Ogun State Governor, Gbenga Daniel, called and asked what I came to Ota to discuss with Obasanjo. I said I discussed third term agenda with him. He said ‘oh God, you have pinched Baba on his sore, Baba said he would turn you to a nobody.’ I said ‘if God allows him’.

“He said okay we are going to have council of state meeting in Abuja, please come early so that we can discuss and I can give you more details. So I went and he gave me all the details and asked me to apologise to Baba (Obasanjo) and I said I would go in the evening but when I went in the evening, (Otunba Johnson) Fasawe was there. Baba didn’t allow me talk. He said I have told you Rashidi, I will turn you to a nobody. He was going and Fasawe was running after him, trying to tell him he shouldn’t have said that and I answered him, if God permits you, sir.

“It would not have mattered so much if I had not lost some of my staff members. We went to Abuja for something, we were returning home and we had an accident on the way. That dampened my spirit. Two brilliant young men with wives and children died; those were my political staff members. Three or four others that were civil servants also died. And when the thing got to that level, people and other governors that came said we should go and beg Baba so we went on January 10, 2006, which happened to be Sallah day.

“We decided to meet in Abeokuta; we didn’t take (Ayodele) Fayose along because he was Baba’s ‘son’; I, (Olusegun) Agagu, (Olagunsoye) Oyinlola and Daniel went to him. They knelt down so I had to kneel down too, Oyinlola is a very good orator, he presented a very brilliant case, Agagu supported him. Daniel and I didn’t talk. He said well, Rashidi, go and resign. I said no and asked why I should do that. He said if you don’t resign, you will be removed. I said nobody can do it because they cannot get two-thirds and he said two-thirds my foot and got up. Daniel ran after him so three of us sat down and we were talking. Then Prince Bola Ajibola (SAN) came in and said what is wrong with you people, you are leaders in your own right. It is not every time that you run away from a fight. He said I had gone to see Segun to plead with him to leave you in peace because you have not done anything wrong. That in fact, everybody was praising your government, and that he also knew that they were praising my government, my education policy was good and I was not corrupt. I said thank you.”

Speaking further on his return to office after his impeachment, Ladoja said:

“The judgment was given on December 7, 2006, which was a Thursday. I think they had their primary on December 9. I didn’t have the opportunity to take part in it and Baba didn’t want me to. That I knew because when the judgment came, I tried to get Obasanjo and he was not available. I spoke to the chief of staff who said thank God you called me, let there be no jubilation. I said what am I jubilating about, I had issued a statement that I was not the winner, the Nigerian constitution was the winner and that I would reconcile all parties. I said I was not coming back to fight. He said before the end of the day, he would make a statement.

“After the Court of Appeal (judgment), the statement they made was that because the case was going to the Supreme Court, they should allow the Supreme Court to decide even though they knew that it was a declarative judgment. If not, we would have come back earlier than when we did. They went quickly to appeal.

“The Supreme Court did not delay in the determination of the appeal. They decided it and said they were going to give reasons on January 12, which coincided with the day I was impeached. But when the judgment was given around 6pm, they said the Inspector General of Police should assist Ladoja to get back to his office, that they had accepted the judgment. When they said that, I now called Baba to say thank you very much for accepting the judgment.

“He said, no Rashidi, don’t make a mistake, I only directed the IG to give you protection so that what happened to Funsho Williams would not happen to you. Don’t go back to office. I asked why. He said because the court was in the hands of Alao-Akala, they didn’t tell Alao-Akala to give the court back to Ladoja. If you want the court back, you have to go back to court. I said that’s alright sir. The following day (Chief Niyi) Akintola (SAN) was on AIT, saying, ‘Can you imagine the President saying this? The President is like an illiterate and this and that.’ The chief of staff called and said why did you have to tell your lawyer what you discussed with Baba? I said Baba told me I should go back to court, I don’t know how to go to court except through my lawyers.

“While that one was happening, Baba was scheming that they should go to court and bring anything that looked like an injunction, even from the Customary Court, he would ask the IG to take action. That was why they went to High Court. When the court was rowdy, the judge said the status quo should remain. Alao-Akala said the status quo meant that he was in charge, but I said we have already taken over since the judgment was pronounced. I had already dissolved Alao-Akala’s cabinet and asked the permanent secretaries to take over. I didn’t need to get to the secretariat before I started giving orders but luckily it didn’t deteriorate because later on I was told that nobody knew what was wrong with Baba. Baba became very hostile and the establishment took over.

“The IG gave instructions to the AIG, Tunji Alapinni, to come to Ibadan. Tunji called me and asked if I was on my way, I said no, I was still in Lagos. In fact, I had not even had my bath. He said he had been given order that by 12pm, if Alao-Akala didn’t leave the office, he should flush him out. Then I advised him, I said, ‘Don’t flush him out, call him and tell him that this is the order you have. He is a policeman too; he knows what it means when the IGP gives an instruction.’ That was why Alao-Akala quickly carried his load and left the secretariat.”