Ondo crisis: ‘Akeredolu’s deputy to preside over exco meeting today’

After a three-month hiatus, the Ondo State Executive Council meets today in Akure, the state capital.

The meeting will be presided over by Deputy Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the first since the warring camps accepted a peace pact during a reconciliation summit held by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Abuja over the weekend.

However, some elite are fighting the decision requiring the deputy governor to submit an undated letter of resignation.

Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, Commissioner for Information and Orientation, confirmed the meeting and stated that the deputy governor will preside as vice chairman.

However, the commissioner could not confirm to reporters last night whether Aiyedatiwa had returned to Akure, but sources indicated that he had returned from Abuja, where he had spent some weeks fighting the House of Assembly’s impeachment process.

He got a reprieve at the peace meeting where the House of Assembly was directed to drop the impeachment plan.

A source said: “Exco meeting will be held about three months after the last meeting was held in Ibadan, presided over by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, when he returned from medical vacation in September

The exco meeting that will be held on Thursday (today) shows that everyone is sticking with the resolution reached with Tinubu.

“All that we are focused on is the development of Ondo State, and that should be paramount in the minds of all of us at the moment.”

A group, Concerned Elite of Ondo State, led by Dr. Olanrewaju Akeredolu, has faulted the resolution that Aiyedatiwa should sign a post-dated letter of resignation.

It also said it was unconstitutional to ask unelected political office holders to monitor elected official.

The group chided the Speaker of the Ondo Assembly, Olamide Oladiji, for reading the resolution on the floor of the Assembly, saying that President Tinubu could not have given an order that contradicted the letter and spirit of the constitution.

It also accused the Speaker of twisting facts to suit a certain interest by asserting that there was no agreement to transfer power to Aiyedatiwa