By Ayodele Oni

The Ondo State Government is angry over depressing reports in the Media on the state of health of the State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu

In a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information, Mrs Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, the State Government dismissed the reports as grossly unfair and exaggerated.

It condemned, in particular, the report which attributed  to the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Abdullahi Adamu, which stated that  Akeredolu, is in “a state of extreme incapacity and hospitalised.”

Commissioner Ademola-Olateju, said that  the report was at once mischievous, wicked and insensitive sponsored by “desperate politicians.”

A National Newspaper had quoted the APC Chairman Senator Abdullahi Adamu, as saying at a meeting with APC State Chairmen that  Governor Akeredolu is incapacitated and hospitalised.

Ademola-Olateju asked members of the public, especially, Ondo people,  to ignore the report and explained that the National Chairman was quoted out of context.

The statement said:

“The attention of Ondo State Government has been drawn to a report, credited to the Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, in the 11th July 2023.

“The headline, ‘Akeredolu in state of extreme incapacity, hospitalised’, bore a tinge of the usual mischievous, wicked and insensitive reportage, sponsored by desperate politicians”

“The Chairman of the APC in Ondo State, Hon. Ade Adetimehin, who attended the meeting, has debunked the report as untrue and totally disconnected from the statement of the Chairman at the event.

“The National Chairman  was indeed excited at the reports on the rate of recovery of the Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, and urged all those present at the meeting to pray for his quick return.

“It, therefore, smacks of mischief and unabashed abandonment of professional ethics for a reporter to present this gross misrepresentation, a mischievous twist, as news.

“At no time did the Chairman mention that the Governor was in a state of ‘extreme incapacity’. He is, evidently, not in any critical state that should warrant this clearly reprehensible conduct as he still sent a post to the Executive Council Committee platform yesterday.

“Members of the public are advised to ignore this news as the contents therein exist in the realm of the imagination of workers of iniquity.

“Mr. Governor is NOT incapacitated. He will return to his duty as soon as the doctors certify him fully fit to do so.”

Akeredolu has been on medical leave for over a month with the full approval of the State House of Assembly. He transferred power to his Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, in an acting capacity.

Governor Akeredolu on Monday informed the state lawmakers of his desire to extend his medical leave to allow him to recuperate after the medical attention.

Akeredolu in the letter stated that the request was a sequel to doctors’ advice on the need for him to take adequate rest after recuperating and promised to return soon after recuperation.

By Ayodele Oni

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Ondo State has observed that the continued absence of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has put the State on autopilot.

The party, in a statement expressed disappointment that the Deputy Governor, who is now the acting Governor has grossly demonstrated that he is unprepared and incompetent to hold sway.

The statement on Wednesday, signed by the Chairman of the party, Stephen Adewale, pointed out that most worrisome is a situation whereby some of those in Akeredolu’s Government have taken the advantage of the Governor’s absence to launch Governorship ambition, ahead next year’s election.

“Let us quickly note that since Akeredolu has turned over leadership to his Deputy Governor in an acting capacity, Akeredolu’s health should not be a topic of public discourse.

“However, the APC and its overambitious gangs made it their business to keep the Ondo people talking about Akeredolu because they all demonstrate that, in the absence of the Governor, they will only act in their own self-interest.

“Thanks to the revelation we got from the series of accusations and counter- accusations made by the various overambitious groups within Ondo APC, we now understand that APC has lost control of its members as the party watched helplessly while the political darts continued to fly around.

“For reasons we considered brazenly self-serving, the dramatis personae are brazenly altering the course of Ondo State’s history in a manner that might leave the state permanently on edge.

“So far, the acting governor has demonstrated that he is not prepared to live up to the expectation of his assigned office.

“Nothing much has changed since the Governor handed over to him. Pensioners who served our beloved state during their productive years are perishing in poverty, and the acting governor did nothing to make progress on their owed gratuities.

“While Aiyedatiwa continued to turn a blind eye, Polytechnic lectures downed tools over their fourteen months unpaid salaries.

“The other day, the Acting Governor expressed concern on the poor reading culture in the state. The questions that beg for answer is that what does Aiyedatiwa expect from a state with a shortage of teachers for its public school?

“The Government failed to hire new teachers while failing to fill the voids left by the departing teachers. As a result, the available teachers are now required to teach more than five arms of classes each day in JSS and SSS classes.

“APC was never intended to produce incorruptible leaders, and there is nothing anyone can do to change that.

“This is evidenced by the level of shamelessness displayed by the overambitious APC politicians since Akeredolu’s health crisis came to light, as well as the lengths to which they have gone in demonstrating that they are willing to sacrifice the progress of the state for their own ambition.

“Voting them out entirely in 2024 is the best course of action.”