There are strong indications that Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), was forced to return to Nigeria from his trip abroad which began on June 7.
THE EDITOR NIGERIA reports that Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu returned to Nigeria amid an alleged plot by his deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, and members of the State House of Assembly to impeach him.
Akeredolu had been on medical leave in Germany for three months, but he cut short his trip and returned to Nigeria on Thursday.
According to sources, the governor’s decision to return home was prompted by fears that he would be impeached by the House of Assembly.
The sources said that some members of the assembly had been pressured by Aiyedatiwa and his allies to declare Akeredolu medically unfit to continue as governor.
One source told Leadership Newspaper that the tussle between Akeredolu and Aiyedatiwa became evident following the poor reception accorded the deputy governor when he visited his boss in Ibadan on Friday.
This publication gathered that the deputy governor was only allowed to attend the meeting the governor held with members of the cabinet and House of Assembly.
It was gathered that Aiyedatiwa was excused from the meetings his boss held with members of the National Assembly from the state, chairmen of boards and parastatals, as well as women and youth groups.
One of the sources said, “The governor had to return home hurriedly on Thursday when he was faced with the possibility of his being impeached by the state’s House of Assembly. His family members and political associates mounted pressure on him to return home in the first instance, even if he would return to Germany at a later date.
“The way the handlers of the deputy governor were going, Governor would have been eased out on the ground that he is medically incapacitated to continue to perform the duties of office for which he was elected. The House of Assembly was being pounded to do the needful to impeach him (Akeredolu) and direct the state’s chief judge to immediately swear in the deputy governor as substantive governor.
“But the sudden and unexpected arrival of the governor on Thursday has truncated the plans. The deputy governor’s camp was jolted by the arrival of His Excellency.”
Painting the picture of how the deputy government was isolated before he left Ibadan on Friday, a reliable source told Leadership, “He (Aiyedatiwa) moved from one table to another trying to ease down the pressure as people were hesitant to associate and discuss with him.
“During the governor’s separate meetings with stakeholders, the deputy was outside loitering around. Even when the wife of the governor came in to greet people, she avoided him.
“Curiously, more than 70 percent of members had already pledged loyalty to him while the rumours of the governor’s incapacitation raged.
“He had initiated a regular weekly meeting with loyal cabinet members, who also recruited influential party leaders to wage the war against the pro-Akeredolu men in government.
“One of the high points of the meeting of the deputy governor’s group was to engage APC leaders in Abuja and pressurize the state Assembly to invoke the doctrine of necessity by declaring Akeredolu unfit.”
