Aiyedatiwa, Ondo dep gov, returns to Ondo, heads exco meeting

The President met with stakeholders in the Ondo All Progressives Congress, APC, over the political crisis rocking the state.

In the raging crisis, the Ondo State House of Assembly pushed for Aiyedatiwa’s impeachment in the face of the apparent breakdown of the relationship between ailing Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and Aiyedatiwa, who was acting governor while his principal was on a long medical vacation in Germany.

The Ondo Assembly met on Tuesday and disclosed that Aiyedatiwa had been asked to tender a resignation letter as part of the moves to resolve the political crisis.

Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Olamide Oladiji, said the decision was taken at the meeting with Tinubu in Abuja.

But an ally of the deputy governor on Tuesday said Aiyedatiwa was not pleased with the arrangement.

On Wednesday, it was gathered that the deputy returned to the state and went to his office to conduct some official activities.

A source in the deputy governor’s office said that Aiyedatiwa would preside over the state Executive Council meeting on Thursday.

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Aiyedatiwa has been battling for political survival in the state as the state House of Assembly attempted to remove him following an allegation of gross misconduct against him.

The impeachment process was however stalled as the state Chief Judge, Justice Olusegun Odusola, refused the request of the Assembly to set up a  seven-man panel to investigate the deputy governor.

The crisis started when Akeredolu returned to the country after a medical vacation in Germany, in September this year.

The crisis led to the intervention of President Tinubu, who held a meeting with the concerned parties last Friday.

On Wednesday, an Ondo APC chieftain, Otunba Olumide Araoyinbo, hailed the intervention of the President, saying it would finally resolve the crisis and help to resuscitate commerce in the state.

Araoyinbo, a former Majority Leader of the state House of Assembly and President of the state Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in a statement on Wednesday, said the political crisis created a climate of fear and discouraged commercial activities.

He hoped that peace had finally returned after Tinubu’s intervention.

Meanwhile, a group, Concerned Elites of Ondo State, in a statement on Wednesday, accused the Speaker of twisting the resolutions reached at the meeting with Tinubu.

The group said,  “We have noticed that Mr Speaker, for reasons known to him, deliberately twisted facts to suit a certain interest by asserting that there was no agreement to transfer power to the Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, following the prolonged absence of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.

“While reading the major conditions of status quo put forward at the meeting,  which include retaining the cabinet, Assembly leadership and party leadership as currently constituted in the State, Mr. Speaker refused to mention that those conditions were hinged on Aiyedatiwa gaining acting governorship status.”

Aiyedatiwa, Ondo dep gov, returns to Ondo, heads exco meeting