A group within the All Progressives Congress, APC, known as Ondo State Liberation Movement (OLM) on Wednesday cautioned Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu not to set bad precedent for the state by allegedly orchestrating the impeachment of his Deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
The group made the call while addressing newsmen in Akure, the state capital over the ongoing plans by the Ondo State House of Assembly to remove Aiyedatiwa over allegations of gross misconduct against him.
The group also alleged the governor of lying to the people of Ondo state by claiming to have resumed office after medical vacation, but he has not been seen in the state for over a month.
Speaking on behalf of the group, a chieftain of the party, Johnson Alabi said if “illegally impeached”, Akeredolu would end up working with three deputy governors by the end of his term as a governor of the state.
Alabi said, “We are here today to express our dismay over the recent happenings in Ondo state politics vis-à-vis planned impeachment of the State Deputy Governor.
“It is our firm believe that this plan, if allowed to stand will not only impede the progress of the State and its
people but will be a very terrible precedence in Ondo politics.
“It is on record that the Former
Governor of Ondo State Dr Olusegun Mimiko had two (2) Deputies in His Eight (8) years in
Office.
“Now the present Governor has worked with two in his Seven (7) years and preparing for his third (3rd) Deputy, and if care is not taken, the next Governor will have four (4) Deputies before the expiration of his tenure.
“We are not saying that the Deputy Governor H.E Lucky Aiyedatiwa cannot be impeached, but that due process and the Rule of Law must be followed.
“I am particularly happy that the ODHA
has regard for the Rule of Law by approaching the Ondo State High Court to secure an order for
substituted service and the fact that the Speaker of the ODHA has petitioned the NJC over the
order granted by a Federal High Court Judge. Having taken that step, I believe they should wait
for the outcome of those processes.
“As Lawmakers, I do not expect them to break the Law. I do not see the reason for desperation in the process to impeach the Deputy Governor if no being sponsored by agent of destabilization.
“We want to also appeal to the Chief Judge of Ondo State to be on the side of the law. It is on record that the immediate past CJ of Ondo State wrote her name in gold by not yielding to political dictation in this kind of situation. We expect the current CJ who has maintained his integrity over the years, not to allow his integrity to be rubbed in the mud by disobeying court orders.
“We want to use this medium to appeal to Ondo State people not to allow this injustice to see the
light of the day. We are aware that the ODHA is set to illegally go ahead with the impeachment. As at today our dear State has no director as governor is nowhere to be found in the state and the deputy that is on ground is being embattled.
“The State Chairman has been having nocturnal meetings over this impeachment plan. We see this as an affront on our National Chairman’s peace move.
“The Governor lied when he claimed to have resume office, especially using letter headed paper bearing Alagbaka Office. As it stands today, we do not have representative at FEC meetings, the State Exco has not held any meeting for months in Ondo State.
“The Governor who claimed to
have resumed office has not for once addressed the people of Ondo State up till date.
“Consequently, we call on His Excellency, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Asiwaju
Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR and the National Chairman of APC H.E Alh. Abdullai Ganduje to prevail on the State Chairman, Hon. Ade Adetimehin who is trying to scuttle the peace process instituted by the National Chairman and the Governor of Ondo State to maintain peace and order.
“Our party will be going into elections by next year, so we do not expect this division to make us lose the forthcoming election.”
