The brewing war of words between the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore, and Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka escalated on Sunday with Omisore describing Soyinka as a confusionist who is both naïve and wicked.
The Nobel Laureate fired the first salvo in a statement on Saturday when he said Omisore’s endorsement as APC Secretary by President Muhammadu Buhari would tamper with judicial inquiries into Ige’s death because he is a prime suspect in the murder case.
In the statement titled, “Perhaps closed files should remain just that – Closed?” Soyinka said with the election of the prime suspect in the murder of the late Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Bola Ige, as National Secretary of the ruling party, the investigative revisit promised by President Muhammadu Buhari is already hamstrung and disrobed of credibility.
Omisore expressed worry that after a decade since Ige’s murder,Soyinka still referred to him as a prime suspect, despite being cleared by a competent court of law.
Omisore, a former deputy governor of Osun State, said it was curious that Soyinka, who accused the Obasanjo government of complicity in Ige’s death when he described the government “as a nest of killers”, could now describe him as a suspect in 2022.
Soyinka in a statement last weekend said Omisore’s endorsement as APC Secretary by President Muhammadu Buhari would tamper with judicial inquiries into Ige’s death because he is a prime suspect in the murder case.
Reacting to Soyinka’s statement, Omisore said: “If the court of the land has vindicated a man, it is naive of him after nearly a decade to link Senator Iyiola Omisore to further search.
He added that “civil and criminal law knowledge should tell professor to ask his cousin, OBJ for the murder.”
Omisore added: “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.”
Omisore alleged that despite the fact that not all Soyinka’s intervention in national life has produced the expected outcome in the long run, society has continued to hold him in esteem.
“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.”