The ongoing conflict between Rotimi Akeredolu, the governor of Ondo, and Lucky Aiyedatiwa, his deputy, appears to have been resolved by President Bola Tinubu after hours of peace talks at the presidential palace in Abuja on Friday night.
As Aiyedatiwa pledged to support officials and members of the state executive council in managing state matters, both parties have now decided to embrace amity and preserve the status quo.
In a similar vein, Oladiji Olamide, the Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, has decided to put an end to any attempts to remove the deputy governor from office.
After more than six hours of discussion, Ondo stakeholders arrived at these resolutions with President Tinubu in the driver’s seat.
Speaking on his choice to uphold the status quo and bring all the rival factions together, the Deputy Governor said, “I want to say that I pledge to all of you that I embrace every one of you.” I disregarded everything that had previously occurred. I’ve let God in as well as let go, as the President has instructed.
And I want to clarify that I have no intention of offending anyone. There has only been political activity. A component of politics is impeachment. It is also politics, if you make it out of it. It’s here now. I’ve made it through it and everything else from his past.
“With the position that I hold, I will carry every one of you along in every decision that needs to be taken and everything that we do we will work together; the executive and the legislature will work together to ensure that governance is on the right track. It is one big family, and our father has intervened to bring all the children together to remain under the same family.”
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“We should respect one another regarding the offices we occupy and our age differences,” he said, urging all members of the State Executive Council to work with him and the governor to “bring the dividend of democracy” to the people of Ondo State. Thus, there will be reciprocal respect.
And because the party is supreme, I want to reassure the party hierarchy that we will cooperate. We’ll always treat you with respect, he continued.
After reading the resolution’s specifics, Olamide, the Speaker of the House, declared, “Our resolution is that one, we shall embrace peace.” Second, the leadership of the House of Assembly would continue to be in place, with no further cabinet dissolutions and the Deputy Governor in charge.
“We intend to preserve the current state of affairs concerning the party leadership in the state and the leadership of the State House of Assembly.” Thank you, President.
In order to allow for the resume of regular business, President Tinubu has now directed the police to leave the Ondo State House of Assembly’s grounds in Akure.
Political unrest has gripped Ondo State since Governor Akeredolu’s medical trip to Germany several months ago.
His return to the nation hasn’t made things any better because, although his deputy has been under investigation for possible misbehaviour, he has seldom been seen in public.
