…Says Deputy Governor should distance self from plans to declare him Acting Governor
PRESS STATEMENT ON THE POLITICAL CRISES IN ONDO STATE.
The Ondo State Peace Vanguard notes, with satisfaction, the intervention of the President and Chief Security Officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the political crises in Ondo State, and the pledge by the stakeholders to abide by the terms of the settlement.
Following the peace meeting held on 25th November, 2023 at the Presidential Villa, the State House issued a Press Statement restating the terms agreed to by all the parties, which include the State Deputy Governor, members of the State House of Assembly, led by the Speaker, the Secretary to the State Government and other members of the State Executive Council, both the National and Ondo State Chairmen of All Progressives Congress (APC), and a host of elected leaders from the State.
The Press Statement from the State House confirms that the status quo is to be maintained. The impeachment of the Deputy Governor is to be shelved, and he is to remain the Deputy Governor, while the recuperating Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu is to remain the Governor.
The leadership of both the House of Assembly and the Ondo State APC are to remain intact. While the intervention of Mr. President and the open declaration of support for the resolutions reached in the meeting by all the stakeholders brought a sigh of relief to the people of Ondo State, there are serious indications that some of those sponsoring and stocking the embers of crisis for their personal benefits are still making fresh moves to induce the Speaker and few members of the House of Assembly to reignite the crises by holding a surreptitious meeting and illegally declare the Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, as the Acting Governor.
The fresh plot to undermine Mr. President is said to be orchestrated by some elements in APC still nursing some grudges against Governor
Akeredolu for his principled stance against open grazing, the establishment of Amotekun, and his uncompromising fight that the presidency must return to the South during the last general election.
Shocking as it may be, a Minister from Ondo State is safe to be among those sponsoring this fresh moves to re-ignite the crisis. The Ondo State Peace Vanguard warns that if the Speaker of the State House of Assembly and his cohorts attempt to go ahead with this fresh satanic and anti-peace moves, for whatever price they must have been bought, they would certainly regret their actions.
Ondo State has witnessed enough crises. It is time for peace to reign. Those who have openly committed to the terms of peace brokered by the
Presidency cannot turn around hatching other personal and selfish agenda at the detriment of the collective peace of our dear State.
The Deputy-Governor must come out to dissociate himself from the fresh plot to undermine the peace brokered by the President, otherwise it would be clear that he is actually taking the people of Ondo State for granted and must be prepared for the consequences.
The Speaker of the State House of Assembly is equally warned not to bring an ant-infested wood into the House, if he does not want to receive the visitation of maggots that may consume him. We also call on security agents in Ondo State to be vigilant and prevent desperate political players from plunging the State into further and deeper crises.
Signed:
Babatope Adesina
(Chairman).
Bamidele Frank
(Secretary).
