Amid legal battles between the Ondo State deputy governor, Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, and the Ondo State House of Assembly, a group has called on the House of Representatives to, in the interim, take up legislative functions in the state, to restore sanity.
The group, Ondo Redemption Platment (ORP), gave the urge in a statement in Akure on Saturday, noting that since the altercation began, “diligent governance has been in abeyance “.
The state governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, who returned to the country last month after a three-month medical vacation to Germany, the group observed, has been convalescing in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
In the statement signed by its chairman, Mr. Edward Aduloju, and Secretary, Mr Olusola Ehinola, the ORP lamented that the State Assembly had been dissipating so much energy on moves to impeach the deputy governor, putting members of the public in confusion as to who is in charge of affairs in the state.
“There are two basic things: Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu is yet to report to duty in Ondo State as governor, and the state Assembly is battling hard to remove the deputy governor, Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who ordinarily should still bear the title of Acting Governor.
” Our people are in quandary, as to who is actually in charge of affairs in the state, thus putting the art of governance into disrepute before discerning observers worldwide,” the group lamented.
The ORP, however, contended that “since the governor is convalescent, still living in Ibadan upon his discharge from the German hospital, and for as long as the House of Assembly is embroiled in legal battles with Aiyedatiwa in a bid to impeach him, the Ondo lawmakers can no longer be trusted with the morality to perform their due legislative functions; and so, we implore the authorities of the National Assembly to mandate the House of Representatives to take over legislative functions for Ondo State, in the interim”.
The group also took a swipe at those it described as “implacable cabal who have hijacked governance in Ondo State and are turning the deputy governor to a guinea pig, as it were, for the fear that the latter, if allowed to act as governor, could nurse a governorship ambition”.
It accused three prominent politicians (name withheld) in the Akeredolu administration of being the arrowheads of “the ongoing lockjam and show of shame”, urging them “to desist in the overall interest of Ondo State and its good people”.
Meanwhile, the group has commended the fence-mending moves of ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) under its National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, in raising a peace committee to resolve the issue.”
“This intervention by the APC national leadership under Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje is well-timed, and we implore all parties to the dispute to cooperate with the peace committee so that normalcy can return to the governance of Ondo State,” the ORP enjoined.
