President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reportedly instructed Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, who is currently unwell, to delegate his powers to his deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
The transfer of power will be done through an electronic signature (e-signature) instead of physical documentation, due to the governor’s health condition.
This directive was given during a meeting called by President Tinubu yesterday to address the leadership crisis in Ondo.
The Nigerian leader informed attendees that Governor Akeredolu’s health had deteriorated to the point where he could no longer sign any official letters.
President Tinubu has called for an urgent meeting at Aso Villa in Abuja to resolve the ongoing conflict in the south-west state. The meeting, scheduled for Monday, will include the state deputy governor, Aiyedatiwa, and the House of Assembly Speaker, Olamide Oladiji.
Sources have revealed that President Tinubu plans to propose that the deputy governor assume the role of acting governor to address the leadership crisis in the state. The emergency meeting is the second gathering called by the President to address the crisis, which began when the governor has been absent from office since July 2023.
The meeting was organised in response to increasing pressure from the civil society organisation Take-It-Back. The organisation had threatened to start mass protests across Ondo State, beginning on Saturday, December 16, to demand the resignation of Governor Akeredolu.
It should be noted that the governor has been absent since returning to Nigeria in September after a three-month medical leave in Germany.
In addition to Aiyedatiwa and Oladiji, Akeredolu’s son, Babajide, who was appointed as the Director General of the Performance and Project Implementation Monitoring Unit, Office of the Governor of Ondo State (PPIMU) in November 2021, was also present at the meeting.
The latest meeting was attended by Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, who represents Ondo South.
According to SaharaReporters, insiders disclosed that initially, there was an agreement among the participants that the State House of Assembly should use the doctrine of necessity to appoint Aiyedatiwa as the interim governor.
However, a few individuals present urged President Tinubu not to go ahead with this plan as it would cause embarrassment to the governor, who is currently unwell.
“During the meeting, it was agreed that the State House of Assembly should invoke the doctrine of necessity and make Lucky Ayedatiwa the Acting Governor, but the Speaker and Senator Jimoh Ibrahim pleaded that the ailing governor would be humiliated,” one of the sources reportedly said.
“The son (Babajide) then promised to go and obtain his father’s e-signature to pen a letter to the State House of Assembly, transferring power to the deputy governor,” it added.
During the meeting, insiders also disclosed that someone expressed concern about the transfer of power using questionable methods, taking into account the previous incident of forgery in the handling of government affairs.
