STRONG indications, yesterday, emerged of plans to scuttle the peace brokered by President Bola Tinubu to end the frosty relationship between Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State and his embattled Deputy, Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, Vanguard has learned.
Vanguard was reliably informed that the deputy governor and some members of the House of Assembly were bent on disobeying the resolution reached during their meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, last week.
Loyalists of the deputy governor in the assembly, it was further gathered have renewed the move to declare him (Aiyedatiwa) as the acting governor.
Recall that during the peace parley in Abuja last week, President Tinubu had asked Aiyedatiwa to remain as the deputy governor and not acting governor.
However, indications emerging in the state showed that some lawmakers have been meeting with the deputy governor after the Abuja meeting pushing for his (Aiyedatiwa’s) declaration as the acting governor.
A source, privy to the meeting, disclosed that they agreed to carry out their plans on Tuesday (today).
Speaking with Vanguard in confidence, a member of the House of Assembly, who was asked to join the plot to declare Aiyedatiwa the deputy governor, said they pro-Aiyedatiwa “queried the President’s intervention in the matter.”
The lawmaker said: “A number of us have received a call from the deputy governor. He informed us that he must be declared acting Governor on Tuesday.
“When we reminded him that it wasn’t part of the resolutions reached at the meeting with the President, he said the President can’t tell us how to run Ondo State.
“All efforts to make the deputy governor understand that the resolutions would only engender peace and allow the state to move forward, proved abortive.
“The deputy governor has failed to understand that the President has given the best political solution to the issue at hand. The agreement is that you should go and do your job. Represent your boss and get the people together. Is that too hard?
“Why is he hell-bent on becoming acting governor? Is he doing it in the interest of the people of the state?
“Aiyedatiwa believes that the only way for him to become governor is if he forcefully takes power from Akeredolu now.
“The painful part is the unbridled affront to the President’s directive that the status quo should remain.
“President Tinubu is a man that should be respected in Ondo State. Especially if you are a loyal member of the APC, you must understand that Tinubu has invested so much in the party over the years.”
Vanguard learned that the deputy governor and his loyalists are planning to co-opt the state party chairman, Ade Adetimehin, in the new arrangements.
No one’ll flout President’s pronouncement—APC chairman
Commenting on the plot, the APC chairman, Ade Adetimehin, declared that “no politician in the state would dare move against the resolution reached with President Tinubu on the impasse in the state.”
Besides, Adetimehin said: “There’s nothing of such, no one dares go against the resolution reached with the President. Can anyone go against what President Tinubu has pronounced? That agreement stands and nothing more.”
Nothing has changed—Ondo Speaker
Also speaking, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr Olamide Oladiji, said the decision of the lawmakers “is in line with the outcome of the meeting with President Tinubu.
“Any decision not in tandem with the resolution reached with the President Tinubu should be disregarded.”
Status quo remains —Majority leader
On his part, the Majority of the Assembly, Mr Emmanuel Ogunmolasuyi, dismissed the move saying there is no plan to proclaim Aiyedatiwa as the acting governor.
Ogunmolasuyi said: “The status quo remains as agreed at the end of the meeting with Mr. President.
“It was collectively agreed that Akeredolu remains the Governor while Aiyedatiwa remains the Deputy Governor and not as Acting Governor.”
Dep gov ‘ll abide by peace resolution—Aide
When contacted, an aide to the deputy governor, who spoke in confidence, denied the move to oust Akeredolu.
The aide said: “The allegation was cooked up to further tarnish the image of the deputy governor. The deputy governor has promised to abide by the resolution which was jointly agreed upon that he should remain as the deputy governor.
“The deputy governor is not desperate. He can’t work against the president who is the leader of the party. He’s a man of peace and nothing has changed.”
Allow status quo to remain, says group
Meanwhile, the Ondo Progressives Network, OPN, yesterday, urged the deputy governor to respect the resolution reached at the meeting with the President.
OPN’s Publicity Secretary, Ogunika Taiwo, in a statement, said: “Any move by the deputy governor to act contrary to the resolution reached with the President would amount to subordination and flagrant disrespect.
“For us, we welcome the efforts of the President to bring peace and stability to our sunshine state. The resolutions as reached by the warring factions were laudable and impressive.
“It was an amicable compromise that would serve the interest of the people and allow governance to breathe eventually.”
SOURCE: VANGUARD
