He was seeking election to the House of Representatives before Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu saw him as a worthy successor to his former Deputy, Agboola Ajayi who had resigned, dumped the party and went ahead to try to truncate Akeredolu’s second term by contesting as the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Lucky Aiyedatiwa all through had had a good work relationship with his Principal, Governor Akeredolu until recently when things were no longer at ease. Unconfirmed reports say he has been using his personal vehicle and house for government due because no official ones was provided for him.
Now, things have fallen apart. The Deputy Governor is facing impeachment. However, there are indications that the petition containing allegations against the Deputy Governor is yet to get to him, despite that a sizeable number of lawmakers have signed it as at close of work on Wednesday.
The allegation under which the Assembly wants to impeach him is that Aiyedatiwa, while acting as Governor when the Governor was away attempted to purchase an SUV armoured vehicle worth N300 million. The money is to be deducted from the palliative package released to the State by the Federal Government, according to those behind the petition.
But another Government source states that “The Acting Governor did not purchase any vehicle at anytime. As at today, there is no official armoured vehicle in his convoy. In fact, the armoured Mercedes Benz SUV he uses as official car is his personal vehicle which he has been using since he became Deputy Governor.
“Since his inauguration as Deputy Governor in 2021, he is yet to get the full compliment of the vehicles for his convoy. A prado jeep for his security details and a hilux van for escort were recently added to his convoy by the Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
“The Staff Car (an armoured SUV) which is supposed to be his official car has never been added to his convoy despite repeated requests for it.
“When the personal armoured SUV he uses broke down recently, his office made a request for the outstanding official car. The request was sent to the office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) which supervises the General Administration department in charge of such item as purchase of vehicles.
“The proposal has since remained between the SSG office and those in charge of procurement. Till today, there has been no order placed for the purchase of the vehicle by the office of the SSG.
“Therefore, how can the Deputy Governor who still uses his personal SUV as Staff Car be accused of purchasing N300m armoured SUV? How can the Deputy Governor who has no direct involvement in the purchase of vehicles be accused of buying such?
“The truth of the matter is that nobody bought any N300m SUV anywhere at anytime and the Deputy Governor has no knowledge of such transaction anywhere. It is the office of the SSG that buys government vehicles, not the Deputy or Acting Governor”, the source said.
The source added that: “Every item in government procurement has a budget head and therefore, it is not possible to bypass the budget and use palliatives money for the purchase of government vehicles.
“The mention of palliatives in the false media reports is an attempt to turn the good people of Ondo State against the Deputy Governor in order to attract public support for the illegality being planned against him. The people of Ondo Stage are more intelligent than to fall for such cheap lies.”
The fear now is will the already Assembly be able to carry out diligent investigation and come out with the true position on the matter? Governor Akeredolu now holds the ace, if Aiyedatiwa survives the impeachment, it’s Akeredolu, if it consumes him, it’s Akeredolu.
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