Soyinka Condemns Omisore’s ‘Appointment’ As APC Scribe

Prof. Wole Soyinka, a Nobel laureate, has stated that the restart of the investigation into the assassination of former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, has already been tainted by the election of Senator Iyiola Omisore, the APC’s National Secretary.

“Perhaps closed files should remain just that-closed?” Soyinka remarked in a statement on Saturday.

Omisore, a former Deputy Governor of Osun State, was arrested on December 23, 2001, in connection with the murder of Ige at his home in Ibadan’s Bodija neighborhood.

The commencement of the inquiry into the murder of a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, was announced on Saturday, despite the fact that he was already dead.

He said that the resumption of the credibility investigation had been hampered by the appointment of the case’s main suspect.

He said, “With the emergence of the said prime suspect as National Secretary of the ruling party, is the Inspector-General of Police equipped to confront political obstacles in a resumption of investigation? Is there any guarantee that the result will see the light of day? How suspect, ab initio, will be the conclusions, given the present political ordering?

“To this layman, that investigative revisit is already hamstrung and disrobed of credibility. I think the nation should simply relieve President Buhari of his pledge. I am certain the Inspector-General of Police will be equally relieved and can now turn his mind and energy to the national accustomed posture – Business as Usual.”

In December 2021, the playwright urged President Buhari to ensure the expose of Ige’s killers in order to restore what he called “broken lines of justice.”

The author claimed that it had just been three months since the twentieth anniversary of Ige’s assassination, which he used to remind the President of a still-standing election commitment.

He said, , “That pledge was to re-open the files on the spate of unsolved political assassinations that had plagued the nation in recent decades. Prominent among those cases was that of the Minister of Justice, murdered on his way to take up a prestigious position with the United Nations.

“Presidential response was swift. Buhari ordered the Inspector-General of Police to re-open those files and resume investigations. The nation has patiently awaited even a hint of work in progress.

“Most, I am certain, expect no less than a revaluation of prior investigative efforts. None, to my knowledge, has attempted to rush the Chief of Police and his team into judgment. We all take solace in the knowledge that the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they arrive. Eventually.”

However, Soyinka claimed that an odd turn of events had aroused suspicions because the ruling party, led by the same President, had just nominated one of the major suspects in the country’s most renowned unsolved killings as its National Secretary.

He said further, “Not for a moment does one suggest that mere accusation, even trial, presumes guilt. More than a mere verdict is involved in any trial, however. The process of arriving at that ultimate destination – justice – is integral to the very concept of democracy and equality under the law. That process is one of the structures of civic education.

“Unresolved till today were quite a number of untidy, even suspect aspects of investigation, prosecution and trials, aspects which revealed improper cell co-habitation by suspects under custody.

“That this led necessarily to recantations of earlier depositions is not thereby proven, but the fact remains that such U-turns did take place. One was so brazen that it induced a heart attack that proved fatal to the victim’s wife, another Justice – Mrs. Atinuke Ige.

“That the prime suspect was privileged in a number of improper ways went beyond mere allegation. Political interventions, including pressure on the judiciary during bail hearings, cannot be denied. A judge under such pressure kept a diary with accusations, pages of which he consigned to friends for safe keeping.”

Prof. Wole Soyinka, a Nobel laureate, has stated that the restart of the investigation into the assassination of former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, has already been tainted by the election of Senator Iyiola Omisore, the APC’s National Secretary.

“Perhaps closed files should remain just that-closed?” Soyinka remarked in a statement on Saturday.

Omisore, a former Deputy Governor of Osun State, was arrested on December 23, 2001, in connection with the murder of Ige at his home in Ibadan’s Bodija neighborhood.

The commencement of the inquiry into the murder of a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, was announced on Saturday, despite the fact that he was already dead.

He said that the resumption of the credibility investigation had been hampered by the appointment of the case’s main suspect.

He said, “With the emergence of the said prime suspect as National Secretary of the ruling party, is the Inspector-General of Police equipped to confront political obstacles in a resumption of investigation? Is there any guarantee that the result will see the light of day? How suspect, ab initio, will be the conclusions, given the present political ordering?

“To this layman, that investigative revisit is already hamstrung and disrobed of credibility. I think the nation should simply relieve President Buhari of his pledge. I am certain the Inspector-General of Police will be equally relieved and can now turn his mind and energy to the national accustomed posture – Business as Usual.”

In December 2021, the playwright urged President Buhari to ensure the expose of Ige’s killers in order to restore what he called “broken lines of justice.”

The author claimed that it had just been three months since the twentieth anniversary of Ige’s assassination, which he used to remind the President of a still-standing election commitment.

He said, , “That pledge was to re-open the files on the spate of unsolved political assassinations that had plagued the nation in recent decades. Prominent among those cases was that of the Minister of Justice, murdered on his way to take up a prestigious position with the United Nations.

“Presidential response was swift. Buhari ordered the Inspector-General of Police to re-open those files and resume investigations. The nation has patiently awaited even a hint of work in progress.

“Most, I am certain, expect no less than a revaluation of prior investigative efforts. None, to my knowledge, has attempted to rush the Chief of Police and his team into judgment. We all take solace in the knowledge that the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they arrive. Eventually.”

However, Soyinka claimed that an odd turn of events had aroused suspicions because the ruling party, led by the same President, had just nominated one of the major suspects in the country’s most renowned unsolved killings as its National Secretary.

He said further, “Not for a moment does one suggest that mere accusation, even trial, presumes guilt. More than a mere verdict is involved in any trial, however. The process of arriving at that ultimate destination – justice – is integral to the very concept of democracy and equality under the law. That process is one of the structures of civic education.

“Unresolved till today were quite a number of untidy, even suspect aspects of investigation, prosecution and trials, aspects which revealed improper cell co-habitation by suspects under custody.

“That this led necessarily to recantations of earlier depositions is not thereby proven, but the fact remains that such U-turns did take place. One was so brazen that it induced a heart attack that proved fatal to the victim’s wife, another Justice – Mrs. Atinuke Ige.

“That the prime suspect was privileged in a number of improper ways went beyond mere allegation. Political interventions, including pressure on the judiciary during bail hearings, cannot be denied. A judge under such pressure kept a diary with accusations, pages of which he consigned to friends for safe keeping.”

Prof. Wole Soyinka, a Nobel laureate, has stated that the restart of the investigation into the assassination of former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, has already been tainted by the election of Senator Iyiola Omisore, the APC’s National Secretary.

“Perhaps closed files should remain just that-closed?” Soyinka remarked in a statement on Saturday.

Omisore, a former Deputy Governor of Osun State, was arrested on December 23, 2001, in connection with the murder of Ige at his home in Ibadan’s Bodija neighborhood.

The commencement of the inquiry into the murder of a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, was announced on Saturday, despite the fact that he was already dead.

He said that the resumption of the credibility investigation had been hampered by the appointment of the case’s main suspect.

He said, “With the emergence of the said prime suspect as National Secretary of the ruling party, is the Inspector-General of Police equipped to confront political obstacles in a resumption of investigation? Is there any guarantee that the result will see the light of day? How suspect, ab initio, will be the conclusions, given the present political ordering?

“To this layman, that investigative revisit is already hamstrung and disrobed of credibility. I think the nation should simply relieve President Buhari of his pledge. I am certain the Inspector-General of Police will be equally relieved and can now turn his mind and energy to the national accustomed posture – Business as Usual.”

In December 2021, the playwright urged President Buhari to ensure the expose of Ige’s killers in order to restore what he called “broken lines of justice.”

The author claimed that it had just been three months since the twentieth anniversary of Ige’s assassination, which he used to remind the President of a still-standing election commitment.

He said, , “That pledge was to re-open the files on the spate of unsolved political assassinations that had plagued the nation in recent decades. Prominent among those cases was that of the Minister of Justice, murdered on his way to take up a prestigious position with the United Nations.

“Presidential response was swift. Buhari ordered the Inspector-General of Police to re-open those files and resume investigations. The nation has patiently awaited even a hint of work in progress.

“Most, I am certain, expect no less than a revaluation of prior investigative efforts. None, to my knowledge, has attempted to rush the Chief of Police and his team into judgment. We all take solace in the knowledge that the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they arrive. Eventually.”

However, Soyinka claimed that an odd turn of events had aroused suspicions because the ruling party, led by the same President, had just nominated one of the major suspects in the country’s most renowned unsolved killings as its National Secretary.

He said further, “Not for a moment does one suggest that mere accusation, even trial, presumes guilt. More than a mere verdict is involved in any trial, however. The process of arriving at that ultimate destination – justice – is integral to the very concept of democracy and equality under the law. That process is one of the structures of civic education.

“Unresolved till today were quite a number of untidy, even suspect aspects of investigation, prosecution and trials, aspects which revealed improper cell co-habitation by suspects under custody.

“That this led necessarily to recantations of earlier depositions is not thereby proven, but the fact remains that such U-turns did take place. One was so brazen that it induced a heart attack that proved fatal to the victim’s wife, another Justice – Mrs. Atinuke Ige.

“That the prime suspect was privileged in a number of improper ways went beyond mere allegation. Political interventions, including pressure on the judiciary during bail hearings, cannot be denied. A judge under such pressure kept a diary with accusations, pages of which he consigned to friends for safe keeping.”

Prof. Wole Soyinka, a Nobel laureate, has stated that the restart of the investigation into the assassination of former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, has already been tainted by the election of Senator Iyiola Omisore, the APC’s National Secretary.

“Perhaps closed files should remain just that-closed?” Soyinka remarked in a statement on Saturday.

Omisore, a former Deputy Governor of Osun State, was arrested on December 23, 2001, in connection with the murder of Ige at his home in Ibadan’s Bodija neighborhood.

The commencement of the inquiry into the murder of a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, was announced on Saturday, despite the fact that he was already dead.

He said that the resumption of the credibility investigation had been hampered by the appointment of the case’s main suspect.

He said, “With the emergence of the said prime suspect as National Secretary of the ruling party, is the Inspector-General of Police equipped to confront political obstacles in a resumption of investigation? Is there any guarantee that the result will see the light of day? How suspect, ab initio, will be the conclusions, given the present political ordering?

“To this layman, that investigative revisit is already hamstrung and disrobed of credibility. I think the nation should simply relieve President Buhari of his pledge. I am certain the Inspector-General of Police will be equally relieved and can now turn his mind and energy to the national accustomed posture – Business as Usual.”

In December 2021, the playwright urged President Buhari to ensure the expose of Ige’s killers in order to restore what he called “broken lines of justice.”

The author claimed that it had just been three months since the twentieth anniversary of Ige’s assassination, which he used to remind the President of a still-standing election commitment.

He said, , “That pledge was to re-open the files on the spate of unsolved political assassinations that had plagued the nation in recent decades. Prominent among those cases was that of the Minister of Justice, murdered on his way to take up a prestigious position with the United Nations.

“Presidential response was swift. Buhari ordered the Inspector-General of Police to re-open those files and resume investigations. The nation has patiently awaited even a hint of work in progress.

“Most, I am certain, expect no less than a revaluation of prior investigative efforts. None, to my knowledge, has attempted to rush the Chief of Police and his team into judgment. We all take solace in the knowledge that the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they arrive. Eventually.”

However, Soyinka claimed that an odd turn of events had aroused suspicions because the ruling party, led by the same President, had just nominated one of the major suspects in the country’s most renowned unsolved killings as its National Secretary.

He said further, “Not for a moment does one suggest that mere accusation, even trial, presumes guilt. More than a mere verdict is involved in any trial, however. The process of arriving at that ultimate destination – justice – is integral to the very concept of democracy and equality under the law. That process is one of the structures of civic education.

“Unresolved till today were quite a number of untidy, even suspect aspects of investigation, prosecution and trials, aspects which revealed improper cell co-habitation by suspects under custody.

“That this led necessarily to recantations of earlier depositions is not thereby proven, but the fact remains that such U-turns did take place. One was so brazen that it induced a heart attack that proved fatal to the victim’s wife, another Justice – Mrs. Atinuke Ige.

“That the prime suspect was privileged in a number of improper ways went beyond mere allegation. Political interventions, including pressure on the judiciary during bail hearings, cannot be denied. A judge under such pressure kept a diary with accusations, pages of which he consigned to friends for safe keeping.”