Ondo Crisis Worsens, Assembly Demand Deputy Governor Aiyedatiwa To Resign

Ondo State House of Assembly has issued a warning against the violation of resolutions made during a recent meeting with President Bola Tinubu, and stakeholders, addressing the ongoing political crisis in the state.

The House held its first plenary session on Tuesday after last Friday’s meeting with Tinubu in Abuja.

Following Tuesday’s plenary, Assembly Speaker Mr. Olamide Oladiji disclosed that as part of the resolutions reached at the meeting with Tinubu, Deputy Governor Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa was instructed to write an undated resignation letter and submit it to the President.

The Speaker disclosed that President Tinubu appointed him, alongside the Secretary of the Ondo State Government, Mrs. Oladunni Odu, and the state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Ade Adetimehin, to oversee and ensure compliance with the resolutions.

Oladiji, who read the resolutions on the floor of the House, warned all the gladiators and stakeholders against violating the resolutions of the meeting.

The Speaker said, “For the avoidance of doubt, let me present to the good people of Ondo State, the resolutions reached after the meeting of representatives of the Ondo State House of Assembly, the State Executive Council members, members of the National Assembly from Ondo State and the state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress with His Excellency, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the leadership of our great part, that all parties shall embrace peace, that status quo be maintained by all parties, that all impeachment proceedings be terminated forthwith, and all court cases withdrawn by all parties.”

Reading further, he said the resolutions also included “that there will be no dissolution of the State Executive Council, that an undated letter of resignation must be written and signed by the deputy governor and submitted to the President, that the party leadership and structures remained intact, that the House of Assembly leadership remained intact and that Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa continues to perform the functions of office as deputy governor.”

The Speaker said that the lawmakers were acting by the mandate bestowed upon them by their constituents.

“We, as elected representatives of the people, have only acted within the precinct of the mandate freely given to us by our constituents. We have demonstrated courage when the occasion demanded it. We asked questions when there was cause for us, to do,” the Speaker stated.

During the plenary session, the Assembly approved 51 members of the Interim Caretaker Committee, responsible for the 18 local government areas and Local Council Development Areas. This endorsement followed Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s request and the completion of screenings by the Assembly.

The PUNCH reported a significant presence of security operatives surrounding the Assembly complex throughout the Tuesday session.

Attempts to contact the deputy governor by phone were unsuccessful, as his line appeared busy, and a text message sent to him remained unanswered at the time of filing this report.

One of his political associates, who chose to remain anonymous, disclosed that Aiyedatiwa expressed discontent with the Assembly’s decision, citing it as contrary to the resolution reached during Friday’s meeting.

“You can see that the deputy governor was not in the state yet. He is waiting for the House to declare him the acting governor before coming. But I don’t know what will happen next on the matter because the House has not kept its part of the ‘deal’.

“The status quo they are talking about is for the deputy governor to be acting as the governor and that is what I expected the speaker to read today but he didn’t put that in his speech. Let’s see what happens next.”

KanyiDaily recalls that  Bola Tinubu had ended the political crisis in Ondo State by facilitating a resolution among opposing factions, urging them to embrace peace and uphold the status quo.