Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the Deputy Governor of Ondo State, returned to the state on Wednesday after meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja last Friday.
The President met with members of the Ondo All Progressives Congress to discuss the state’s political problem.
In the midst of the turmoil, the Ondo State House of Assembly called for Aiyedatiwa’s impeachment, citing the apparent collapse in the relationship between sick Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and Aiyedatiwa, who served as acting governor while his principal was on a protracted medical vacation in Germany.
According to the PUNCH, the Ondo Assembly convened on Tuesday and revealed that Aiyedatiwa had been asked to submit an undated resignation letter as part of efforts to resolve the political issue.
The decision was made during a meeting with Tinubu in Abuja, according to Assembly Speaker Olamide Oladiji.
However, an ally of the deputy governor, Aiyedatiwa, who talked to The PUNCH on Tuesday, was dissatisfied with the agreement.
According to reports, the deputy returned to the state on Wednesday and proceeded to his office to complete some official business.
According to a source in the deputy governor’s office, Aiyedatiwa will preside over the state Executive Council meeting scheduled for today (Thursday).
“The deputy governor is around, and he resumed office today (Wednesday),” according to the source. Tomorrow (Thursday), he would preside over the exco meeting.”
Aiyedatiwa has been fighting for political survival in the state, with the state House of Assembly attempting to oust him after an allegation of serious misconduct was leveled against him.
The impeachment process was halted, however, when the state Chief Judge, Justice Olusegun Odusola, declined the Assembly’s request to form a seven-member panel to probe the deputy governor.
The situation began in September of this year, when Akeredolu returned to the country from a medical vacation in Germany. The crisis prompted President Tinubu to intervene, holding a meeting with the interested parties last Friday.
On Wednesday, an Ondo APC chieftain, Otunba Olumide Araoyinbo, applauded the President’s involvement, saying it will ultimately end the problem and assist to resurrect the state’s economy.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Araoyinbo, a former Majority Leader of the state House of Assembly and President of the state Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the political crisis produced an environment of fear and inhibited commercial activity.
He hoped that peace had been restored as a result of Tinubu’s efforts.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Wednesday, the Concerned Elites of Ondo State accused the Speaker of twisting the resolutions reached in 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.”