Fresh Crisis Rocks Ondo Assembly, Set To Remove Deputy Governor, Make Speaker The State Governor
The current crisis in the Ondo State House of Assembly is all part of a plot to remove the Deputy Governor of the state, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa following Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s deteriorating health condition, SaharaReporters has learnt.
Sources said that there is a plot to ensure Mr Aiyedatiwa, who constitutionally should become the acting governor should the governor be indisposed, is impeached to prevent him from getting to the position.
Section 191 (1) of the Nigerian Constitution states that: “The Deputy Governor of a State shall hold the office of Governor of the State if the office of Governor becomes vacant by reason of death, resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or removal of the governor from office for any other reason in accordance with Section 188 or 189 of this constitution.”
Earlier on Friday, there were reports that State House of Assembly Speaker, Bamidele Oloyeloogun, had resigned from his position, saying, “As you are aware, this Honourable House has always discharged its constitutional obligations as one indivisible family. That was the spirit that propped me to the exalted position as Speaker. It is in light of that same spirit that I resign from the position.”
He, however, issued a statement on Friday saying the reports were false.
In the statement, Oloyeloogun said “the purported letter of resignation did not emanate from me as it was forged by purveyors of such letter”.
Meanwhile, armed policemen have taken over the House of Assembly.
“The Ondo State House Speaker’s resignation was masterminded to remove the Deputy Governor, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, so that the Speaker could be governor since Governor Akeredolu is said to be in critical condition.
“The new Speaker is to come from Owo, according to the plot,” a source said on Friday.
The Speaker has urged security agencies to investigate the letter, saying it emanated from his enemies working against the existing peace in the state.
“The purported resignation is no doubt the figment of the imagination of the peddlers of such heinous act as l did not contemplate or discussed such move with any member of the Assembly or family members.
“Let me tell members of the public that the purported letter of resignation did not emanate from me as it was forged by purveyors of such letter.
“The Clerk of the House, Mr.Benjamin Jaiyeola (ESQ) has informed me that he did not receive any letter of resignation which has given credence to the fact that the faceless writer is not informed of the process through which such weighty exercise can take,” the statement read in part.
It was on Thursday exclusively reported that Governor Akeredolu was bedridden in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital and unable to sign official documents.
It was learnt that the state governor had also been abandoned by his wife and children.
Meanwhile, the governor has refused to hand over to his deputy despite his incapacitation.
Akeredolu is a second-term governor under the All Progressives Congress and his tenure will come to an end in 2025.
“Governor Akeredolu is incapacitated and bedridden in his Ibadan home. His hands and legs are immovable. His wife and kids also abandoned him,” one of the sources had revealed.
“He is unable to sign documents but he could still speak. Meanwhile, he has refused to hand over the affairs of government to his deputy,” the source added.
It was reported on Thursday that the governor was set to be flown out of Nigeria on Saturday following his deteriorating health condition.
Also reported in January that Akeredolu was treating an ailment said to be blood cancer (leukemia).
Betty, the wife of the governor recently cried out that her husband was sick after taking a “concoction” from one of his female aides, Bunmi Ademosun.
In a leaked audio file, the First Lady accused Ademosun, the special adviser to the governor on Multilateral and Inter-Governmental Affairs, of sneaking to give Akeredolu a local herbal drink.
