President Bola Tinubu has intervened to put an end to the prolonged political dispute rocking Ondo State.
DAILY GIST, after the weekend meeting, gathered that Tinubu instructed that the existing leadership structure should remain unchanged.
The decision to install Aiyedatiwa as acting governor came on the heels of impeachment plot against him, which has divided cabinet members and members of the state House of Assembly.
The state has been in turmoil over the impeachment plot against the deputy governor.
Findings revealed that before the meeting, 11 out of the 26 lawmakers had aligned with Aiyedatiwa’s camp, with the goal of ensuring that the deputy governor assumes the role of acting governor.
On Friday, the 11 lawmakers had planned to convene at the Assembly in order to discuss and reach a consensus on the matter.
However, the sitting was postponed with the intention of awaiting the outcome of a meeting involving Tinubu and other stakeholders.
Following President Tinubu’s decision, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu will continue in his role, and Deputy Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa will also retain his office, despite previous opposition from Akeredolu’s supporters.
The directive states that Deputy Governor Aiyedatiwa’s retention is conditional upon his commitment to maintaining peace in the state.
He is expected to sign a pledge of good behaviour, and the President has reportedly appointed three individuals to oversee his actions and report back.
The resolution followed a lengthy, private meeting held by President Tinubu with the involved parties at Aso Rock Villa, lasting over six hours.
Sources who spoke on the development revealed that the President’s directive was to keep the current state of affairs as it is.
One of the sources said, “The President frowned at the move to declare Aiyedatiwa as acting governor and warned that such must never happen in the state.
“President Tinubu directed that the deputy governor should go and resume work as deputy governor and not as acting governor.
“He also directed that the State Executive Council should remain intact; ditto for the party exco, contrary to threats.
“The President went further to ask Aiyedatiwa to do a letter of undertaking and maintain peace in the state.
“Mr. President also appointed the SSG, Princess Oladunni, Party Chairman, Adetimehin and the Speaker of the House, Oladiji to monitor and report the deputy governor if he deviated from the resolution reached at the meeting.”
According to findings, it was revealed that both the camp of the governor and Aiyedatiwa had initially scrambled on how to get the exco on their side.
A top source within the cabinet disclosed that some persons loyal to the deputy governor were the first to make the move to secure the signatures of substantial numbers of cabinet members in order to pass a vote of no confidence on the governor.
According to the source who craved anonymity, the camp of Akeredolu got wind of the ploy by Aiyedatiwa’s men, hence the governor’s loyalists swung into action to quickly mobilise the cabinet members to pass the vote of confidence.
