By Ayodele Oni
Ondo State is currently experiencing intrigues and political realignments as the State is moving nearer to another Governorship election.
The second term of incumbent Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu is itching towards completion of two years.
It is the general belief that when an incumbent administration spends two to three years, the remaining period is for politicking whether it is returning to power or not. But the current power play in Ondo State is principally due to the absence of Governor Akeredolu, who is on medical leave.
He had forwarded a letter to the State House of Assembly on June 7, 2023, seeking a leave to help him attend to his health challenges. This is not the first time that Akeredolu will be going on leave and transmit power to his Deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, which confers power on him as the Acting Governor.
However, since he started to act as a Governor, the State has been engulfed in a series of power play, which is seen by some as an attempt by Aiyedatiwa to edge out his boss and make it difficult for him to possibly get grip of the Government on his return.
Aiyedatiwa, has been accused, among others things, of trying to force civil servants to disclose to him some financial dealings of the Governor when he is away. A reliable government source, who spoke disclosed that the Deputy Governor has demanded unrestricted access to the State treasury.
The source alleged that aside from his regular monthly allocation, Aiyedatiwa has insisted on receiving the Governor’s allowance and other benefits associated with the office.
It was further alleged that the Deputy Governor has been interrogating government officials about the governor’s earnings and expenditures.
According to a source, “We are not concerned about the political turmoil within the Government. Our priority is ensuring due process. The Governor’s office does not directly instruct us to release funds.
“There are established procedures for financial disbursements in the government, and all approvals must go through the Ministry of Finance.
“Aside from the running grant accruing to the deputy governor’s office monthly, he has also demanded that the governor’s running grant and other emoluments attached to the Office of the Governor be handed to him as Acting Governor.
“In the past week, the Deputy Governor has summoned and threatened two of our officials. He has inquired about the Governor’s spendings and demanded to know how funds allocated to the Governor’s office are disbursed.
“He believes he is entitled to two streams of funding, insisting that the Governor’s office allocation should be included as part of his role as Acting Governor.
“During the encounters with our officials, they kindly explained that even the Governor’s office routes its approvals through the Ministry of Finance.
“However, the Deputy Governor remains obstinate, repeatedly demanding immediate funds. Despite our attempts to educate him on proper financial protocols and the responsible use of public funds, he persists.
The Acting Governor is also reported not to be interested in attending assignments within the state but prefers those ones outside to enable him collect allowances.
To all these allegations, Aiyedatiwa has remained silent, preferring to state his own side of the case to those that are very close to him insisting that he has nothing against his boss and that he has even organized a prayer meeting to seek God’s intervention in the health condition of Mr Governor.
There are also some top aides of Governor Akeredolu that did not take these buddies serious as they believe they are meant to unnecessarily heat the Polity and possibly create a gap between the ailing governor and his deputy.
One of them, a Senior Special Assistant to the governor, Doyin Odebowale, described the allegations against the Acting Governor as a ruse.
Odebowale, while hitting hard on those taking the absence of Mr Governor to disparage him and cause confusion within Government declared that “While the people of the State, from diverse socio-political backgrounds, pray, fervently, for the Governor to come back and resume, in order to continue to discharge his service to the people of the State, these meddlesome hustlers are bent on causing confusion for their benefits.
“These rootless politicians, ostensible representatives of the people without followers, believe that the best way to portray the current health challenge of the Governor is to spread falsehood against those perceived as impediments to their prebendal predilections.”
There is another Group which sees the current undercurrent war in the state as an attempt to push the acting governor aside scheme of things and has risen in his defence.
Made up mainly of people from Ondo south, where the acting governor comes from, one of them, a lawyer, Allen Sowore believed that some cabals within government are behind various plots to put the acting governor in trouble.
“This surreptitious sponsored blackmails to smear and besmirch the reputation of the Acting Governor in some sections of the media should not be allowed a breath in a sane society. Not even a state prided as the intellectual plinth of South Western Nigeria.
”Its a sharp contradiction, to accuse an Acting Governor of “undermining the authority of the governor’s office”. How can the Acting Governor undermine the authority he is exercising?
“Ridiculously, as expected though, the Cabal complained bitterly in their infamous write up about the functions of the Acting Governor.
”They don’t want the Acting Governor to feature, attend or even appear at any serious state function outside the state. They want to cage him so that he will not have national connection and recognition as the Acting Governor.
“Truly, I will not advise or counsel the Acting Governor to sack or terminate the appointment of any public office holder in the state like the then Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo did to the former Director General of State Security Service, Lawal Daura. He will be playing at the gallery.
“Appropriately, a cabinet reshuffle and rejig of the State Cabinet may be desirable to ensure the requisite unity of command in the instant circumstance.
“As critical stakeholders, we simply can not afford to look away while the state skid into full anarchy and mobocracy.”
Aiyedatiwa became Deputy to Governor Akeredolu, following resignation of the former occupant of that position, Agboola Ajayi. He resigned after relation between him and Akeredolu became that of cat and rat. One of the factors which made Aiyedatiwa towered above others that were scheming for the position was his unalloyed loyalty to Akeredolu.
What could have transpired to make him wish his boss dead? Definitely, activities of some fifth Columnists cannot be ruled out and especially build up to the next governorship election.
