Former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has said ex-Oyo State governor Rashidi Ladoja was impeached because he was ungrateful to his late political leader, Chief Lamidi Adedibu and Chief Yekinni Adeojo.
He spoke on Thursday in Ibadan, Oyo State, at the launch of Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala’s autobiography titled: “Amazing Grace”.
Obasanjo, who was the president at the time (2003 to 2007), and on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said Ladoja deliberately failed to accommodate the two political leaders in his government.
He said his attempts to reconcile Ladoja with the duo were unsuccessful, as Ladoja turned deaf ears to all entreaties. He said he (Ladoja), however, paid heavily for it.
Reacting to page 140 of the book, Obasanjo said: “You pointed out on page 140 that Ladoja picked up a quarrel with me for reason of a non-existent third term. I didn’t know that Ladoja picked up a quarrel that his becoming a governor was due to the grace of God and major contributions of two people- Yekinni
Adeojo from whom the party structure was wretched and Chief Adedibu who spearheaded the whole programme.
“I pleaded with him to make accommodation for both. He told me that they were all Ibadan people and they knew how to deal with themselves. He subsequently proved himself right as they dealt with themselves and he, Ladoja, came out the worse for it.
Alao-Akala, who succeeded Ladoja in 2007 after serving him as deputy governor and acting governor when Ladoja was impeached, noted that he was a product of grace pencilled in the hands of the creator, who drew the picture of who he became today.
He added that God brought him from junctures where many who had great and greater hope of tomorrow fell.
He said the title of his autobiography, “Amazing Grace”, was not a happenstance, but rather an audacity of providence to bring him out of the dungeon of a hopeless tomorrow into the fulfilment of a destiny.
The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, lamented that his impact on Alao-Akala to become the deputy governor and later governor was not credited in the book.
Dignitaries at the event included Ekiti State Governor Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Oyo State Deputy Governor Rauf Olaniyan, Senator Fatai Buhari Senator Teslim Folarin, 2019 All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Oyo State Chief Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Youth and Sports Mr. Sunday Dare, Olubadan of Ibadan land Oba Saliu Adetunji, Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN), Alhaja Abosede Adedibu, Akeem Adeyemi and former AIG Tunji Alapinni.
The Nation