Group To Ondo Deputy Governor: Clear Your Gross Misconduct Allegations

-worries Ayeidatiwa is ridiculing his exalted office;

-carpets ex-lawmakers for rubbishing the institution they represent.

We at Ondo Youth Arise Movement(ODYM), a coalition of young, progressive and development-oriented people of Ondo State, which has consistently acted as a watchdog to government activities, especially in the allocation and expenditure of public funds, call on the embattled Deputy Governor, His Excellency Lucky Ayeidatiwa, to clear the allegations of gross misconduct and others against him by the Ondo House of Assembly, rather than commissioning men-for-hire to heat up the polity and destabilize the relative peace we enjoy in the state.

We are saddened that the highly exalted office of the Deputy Governor is now a tool for ridicule, courtesy of Lucky Ayeidatiwa. This stands condemned. The DG has all the time, information and other resources to adequately respond to the allegations against him by the assembly. A move we believe will restore the waning glory of the office of the Deputy Governor and ultimately protect other institutions of the state, including the revered legislative house.

We have also observed the recruitment of political players and businessmen by the Deputy Governor who have taken over the media space, the Assembly Complex and other strategic places to cause chaos and push the state to anarchy. If the DG was this active and proactive, the state wouldn't have been rudderless and directionless when he held sway as the Acting Governor(AG) for months. As the Acting Governor, Ondo State was on autodrive, as all sectors in the state were shut down under Lucky Ayeidatiwa.

There have been disagreements between governors and their deputies in the history of the state. In the Second Republic, the governor of the defunct Ondo State, Chief Adekunle Ajasin went at loggerheads with his deputy, Chief Akin Omoboriowo. Later in the life of the state, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, Ondo State governor between February 2009 and 2017, came for his deputy, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, whose fate was sealed under a week. By 2020, daggers were drawn between Barr. Rotimi Akeredolu, the current governor and his erstwhile deputy, Hon. Agboola Ajayi.

Why then is Lucky Aiyedatiwa doing everything to throw Ondo State into political turmoil which could lead to breakdown of law and order and even result in loss of lives and properties? Is the Deputy Governor dragging us back to 1983?

Against all odds, adversaries and opposition, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu nominated and stood by Lucky Aiyedatiwa, first as Ondo Commissioner on the NDDC Board and subsequently his running mate and deputy in the 2020 Ondo gubernatorial elections. It is worrying the latter has thrown caution into the winds and has now turned against his benefactor.

We have just read through the position of some ex-lawmakers in the state who are working hard to see the DG avoid clearing the allegations against him, inadvertently throwing the institution that gave them their current status under the bus. Their attempt to rubbish the House of Assembly, which they represent, and denigrate their colleagues who are only performing their statutory rights, is unbecoming and unacceptable.

The House of Assembly is a sacred place housing the finest of us. They swore an oath to defend our constitution and project morality to the society. Should we allow these Honourable men and women to be vilified for upholding their roles in accordance with the constitution and their conscience?

The Deputy Governor has been served a letter. He has days to attend to the allegations. Any other venture aside from clearing his name and the office he occupies, he is only setting a trend of being unaccountable, indiscernible and deaf to the calls for representative governance in Ondo State. This is of great concern as Lucky Aiyedatiwa continues to bring to disrepute the good office he occupies.

Signed:

Abigail Adebolu,

Acting Publicity Secretary.

Olaolu Ogunleye,

Acting President.

For: Ondo Youth Arise Movement.