EXHIBIT 31.1

                               CERTIFICATION

Statement  Pursuant  to Section  302 of the  Sarbanes-Oxley  Act of 2002 by
Chief  Executive  Officer  Regarding  Facts and  Circumstances  Relating to
Exchange Act Filings.

I, James J. O'Brien, Chief Executive Officer of Ashland Inc., certify that:

1.   I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Ashland Inc.;

2.   Based on my  knowledge,  this  report  does  not  contain  any  untrue
     statement  of a  material  fact  or  omit to  state  a  material  fact
     necessary to make the statements  made, in light of the  circumstances
     under which such  statements were made, not misleading with respect to
     the period covered by this report;

3.   Based on my knowledge,  the financial statements,  and other financial
     information  included in this report,  fairly  present in all material
     respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
     of the  registrant  as of,  and for,  the  periods  presented  in this
     report;

4.   The registrant's  other  certifying  officer and I are responsible for
     establishing  and maintaining  disclosure  controls and procedures (as
     defined in Exchange Act Rules  13a-15(e) and  15d-15(e))  and internal
     control  over  financial  reporting  (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
     13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

     a)  Designed such disclosure  controls and procedures,  or caused such
         disclosure  controls  and  procedures  to be  designed  under  our
         supervision,  to ensure that material  information relating to the
         registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known
         to us by others  within those  entities,  particularly  during the
         period in which this report is being prepared;

     b)  Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused
         such  internal  control  over  financial  reporting to be designed
         under our supervision,  to provide reasonable  assurance regarding
         the  reliability  of financial  reporting and the  preparation  of
         financial  statements  for external  purposes in  accordance  with
         generally accepted accounting principles;

     c)  Evaluated  the   effectiveness  of  the  registrant's   disclosure
         controls  and   procedures   and  presented  in  this  report  our
         conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and
         procedures,  as of the end of the period  covered  by this  report
         based on such evaluation; and

     d)  Disclosed in this report any change in the  registrant's  internal
         control  over  financial   reporting  that  occurred   during  the
         registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the  registrant's  fourth
         fiscal  quarter  in  the  case  of  an  annual  report)  that  has
         materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect,
         the registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

5.   The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed,  based
     on our most recent  evaluation  of  internal  control  over  financial
     reporting,  to the  registrant's  auditors and the Audit  Committee of
     registrant's  Board of Directors (or persons performing the equivalent
     functions):

     a)  All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
         or operation of internal  control over financial  reporting  which
         are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability
         to record,  process,  summarize and report financial  information;
         and

     b)  Any fraud,  whether or not material,  that involves  management or
         other  employees who have a significant  role in the  registrant's
         internal control over financial reporting.

Date: February ___, 2006

                                    /s/ James J. O'Brien
                                    -----------------------------------------
                                    Chief Executive Officer