Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has said that the emergence of the impeached Deputy Governor of Osun, Iyiola Omisore, has discredited all talks about plans to revisit the murder of former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige.
Soyinka, who made his position known in a statement on Saturday, said with the new political ordering, nothing should be expected of the promised reopening of the case.
Ige, while serving as Minister of Justice, was killed in his residence in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital in 2001.
Omisore was later arraigned along other major suspects.
He was later left off the hook as the state government entered a nolli prosecui.
Omisore later went ahead to be elected senator representing Osun East.
Last week, he was elected National Secretary of the APC through consensus arrangements.
In his statement released on Saturday which was titled, “Perhaps closed files should remain just that-closed?” Soyinka 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.”
Soyinka said that on the occasion of Ige’s 12th year anniversary, he called for a revisit of the murder, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari swiftly promised to ensure justice is done.
“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.”
Soyinka said it is strange for the political party which the president belongs to could be brazen in the election of Omisore as its National Secretary.
He said, “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.”