Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja (born 25 September 1944) is a Nigerian businessman who became

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Oyo State Oyo State is an inland States of Nigeria, state in southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the List of Nigerian cities by population, third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo State is b ...

in Nigeria on 29 May 2003 as a member of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). He was impeached in January 2006, but reinstated in December 2006. His term ended in 2007. Ladoja became a member of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) in December 2018.

Early life

Ladoja was born on 25 September 1944 in Gambari village near

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

. He attended Ibadan Boys High School (1958–1963) and

Olivet Baptist High School Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo, Nigeria (formerly Oyo Baptist Boys' High School), located on a hillcrest named Olivet Heights, was founded by American Southern Baptist Mission on 29 January 1945 on its original site in the premises of the old Bapt ...

(1964–1965). He studied at the

University of Liège The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301 ...

, Belgium (1966–1972) where he earned a degree in Chemical Engineering. He obtained a job with Total Nigeria, an oil company, where he worked for 13 years in various positions before entering private business in 1985. His business interests include Shipping, Manufacturing, Banking, Agriculture and Transportation. He was elected to the Senate of Nigeria in 1993 during the short-lived

Nigerian Third Republic The Third Republic was the planned republican government of Nigeria in 1993 which was to be governed by the Third Republican constitution. Founded (1993) The constitution of the Third Republic was drafted in 1989. General Ibrahim Badamasi B ...

, he was a member of the

United Nigeria Congress Party The United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) was a Nigerian political party. It was one of the five state-sanctioned political parties allowed by the government of General Sani Abacha to participate in state assembly elections held in December 1997, in ...

(UNCP) during the Abacha Political Transition. By 2000, Ladoja had become a director of Standard Trust Bank Limited.

Governor of Oyo State

Ladoja was elected governor of Oyo State in April 2003 on the PDP platform, and took office on 29 May 2003. He was supported by Alhaji

Lamidi Adedibu Chief Lamidi Ariyibi Akanji Adedibu (24 October 1927 – 11 June 2008) was an aristocratic power broker in Oyo State, Nigeria. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo described him as the "father of the PDP". Adedibu was born on October 24, 1927 at Oj ...

, a PDP power broker in the state. By August 2004, Ladoja and Adedibu were locked in a fierce struggle over allocation of government appointees. Ladoja was not supported by the party in this dispute. In an interview in late 2005, the PDP national chairman, Ahmadu Ali, said that Ladoja should take instructions from Lamidi Adedibu. On 12 January 2006, Ladoja was impeached by

legislators and forced out of office. His deputy,

Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala (3 June 1950 – 12 January 2022) was a Nigerian politician and police officer. He served as governor of Oyo State in 2006, and again from 2007 to 2011. He was the candidate of the ADP in the 2019 Governorship ...

, was sworn in as the new governor. On 1 November 2006, the Appeal Court in the state capital, Ibadan, declared the impeachment null and illegal, but advised waiting for confirmation of this decision by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court upheld the decision on 11 November 2006, and Ladajo officially resumed office on 12 December 2006. Anti-riot police were deployed along the main roads leading to the main government offices to prevent violence from supporters of Adebayo Alao-Akala and Lamidi Adedibu during his reinstatement. Ladoja failed to win the PDP nomination as candidate for a second term. He chose to back the

Action Congress The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC), was a Nigerian political party formed via the merger of a faction of Alliance for Democracy, the Justice Party, the Advance Congress of Democrats, and several other ...

candidates for 33 local council chairmanship elections. The PDP refused to participate in the elections. As a result, the Action Congress (AC) won 26 seats and the

All Nigeria Peoples Party The All Nigeria Peoples Party ( abbr. ANPP) was a political party in Nigeria. Under the leadership of Late Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke who was its vice presidential candidate to General Muhammadu Buhari in the 2007 presidential elections. The party ...

(ANPP) won seven. However, his successor as governor, his former deputy and former acting governor Christopher Adebayo Akala, sacked the council chairmen shortly after taking office and replaced them with PDP supporters.

Later career

On 28 August 2008, Ladoja was arrested by the

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is a Nigerian law enforcement agency that investigates financial crimes such as advance fee fraud (419 fraud) and money laundering. The EFCC was established in 2003, partially in response to pre ...

(EFCC) over allegations of non-remittance of the proceeds of sale of government shares totaling N1.9 billion during his administration. He was briefly remanded in prison by the Federal High Court in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

on 30 August 2008. He was granted bail on 5 September, in the amount of 100 million

naira The naira (sign: ₦; code: NGN) is the currency of Nigeria. One naira is divided into 100 ''kobo''. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the sole issuer of legal tender money throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It controls the volume ...

with two sureties for the same sum. In March 2009, a former aide testified on the way on which the share money had been divided between Ladoja's family, bodyguard, senior politicians and lawyers. Ladoja was the governorship candidate for Accord party in Oyo State during the April 2011 and 2015 elections, he lost to Senator

Abiola Ajimobi Senator Isiaka Abiola Adeyemi Ajimobi (16 December 1949 – 25 June 2020) was a Nigerian politician from Oyo State, south-western Nigeria. He was formerly the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the National Oil and Chemical Marketing ...

. He later merged his Accord Party into PDP in 2017. Dispute in PDP made him and other allies (from Labour Party, All Progressives Congress APC etc.) to move over African Democratic Congress (ADC) in 2018. After a brief sojourn in ADC which proved to be a marriage of strange bedfellows, Ladoja with his followers moved to the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) in December 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ladoja, Rasheed 1944 births Living people People from Oyo State Governors of Oyo State TotalEnergies people Peoples Democratic Party state governors of Nigeria Impeached governors removed from office University of Liège alumni Olivet Baptist High School alumni Yoruba politicians