Despite Tinubu’s Directive Some Ondo Lawmakers Bent On Shoving Akeredolu, Installing Aiyedatiwa As Acting Governor

The last has not been heard of the crisis rocking the Ondo State Government despite the peace deal brokered by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Naija News gathered that despite Tinubu directing warring parties to maintain the status quo, moves are still on the way to allegedly install the Ondo State Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, as Governor.

Recall that there was tension in the state chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Ondo State Executive Council over a plot to unseat Governor Rotimi Akeredolu by some lawmakers who insisted that the Deputy Governor should be pronounced as Acting Governor, contrary to the terms of the agreement.

President Tinubu, during a meeting with the Akeredolu and Ayedatiwa camps at the weekend, urged them to sheathe their swords and allow peace to reign.

At the weekend’s meeting were Ayedatiwa, party chairman Ade Adetimehin, Secretary to Government Oladunni Odu, Oladiji, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, and others.

Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Tinubu, Ajuri Ngelale, in a statement after the meeting, said the President advised that the status quo be maintained.

He added: “This means that Governor Akeredolu remains Chief Executive of the State, Aiyedatiwa remains Deputy Governor, and members of the State Executive Council continue their respective duties, even as the leadership of the House of Assembly and the APC Chapter in Ondo State is preserved.“

Despite the intervention of the President, reports have emerged that eleven lawmakers are still pushing to make Aiyedatiwa Acting Governor.

The 11 lawmakers loyal to Aiyedatiwa have allegedly started to woo Akeredolu’s loyalists to their side to get majority support to pronounce the deputy governor as acting governor.

Speaking to The Nation, one of the lawmakers, who spoke anonymously, said: “On Sunday, a number of us 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 failed as he yelled and said over his dead body would Akeredolu remain as governor.

“The deputy governor has failed to understand that the President has given the best political solution to the issue at hand. I wonder what Mr. Deputy Governor wants again. 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? The answer is definitely no.

“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 who 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.”

The party chairman, Adetimehin, said party leaders who met with the president were committed to the peace plan, adding that no politician in the state can move against the resolution reached with the President.

He said: “There’s nothing of such. No one dared go against the resolution reached with the President. Can anyone go against what President Tinubu has pronounced? That agreement stands and nothing more.”