The plot to impeach the embattled deputy governor of Ondo State, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa by the House of Assembly and the absence of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu are issues causing ripples in the state.

Vanguard spoke with a former board member of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Dr Benson Enikuomehin, and the Commissioner for Information and Orientation in Ondo State, Mrs. Bamidele Ademola-Olateju on the situation in the state.

Dr Enikuomehin, a founding secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Ikorodu Branch and member of NEC of the NBA, also served as senior special assistant to Governor Akeredolu, said cabals must not be allowed to ruin Ondo State. They spoke to Dapo Akinrefon, Deputy South-West Regional Editor.

As a stakeholder in Ondo State, what is your take on the state of affairs in your state?

I have participated in the affairs of the state for 13 or more years. What is happening in Ondo State is sad in the sense that the pilot of Ondo State is Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, who has been indisposed for a while. We pray for him to be well. Even if anybody were to be your enemy, in our clime and culture, you don’t wish anyone death. The people of Ondo State have been praying for him to be well. 

About three months ago, he was so critically ill that he had to be flown out of the country. Before he left, to transfer the reign of power, as constitutionally provided to his deputy, became an issue. But in the long run, I think reasons prevailed, he transferred power to his deputy and left. While he was away, whether the deputy was acting or he was acting a play is another game altogether.

A deputy governor is a governor in waiting if the unfortunate happens.

So, Mr. Akeredolu, not being well enough, indisposed, and out of the country, Mr Ayedatiwa became the Acting Governor.

The deputy governor was being undermined by the Commissioner for Finance, Mr Akinterinwa, and his team. He wouldn’t obey the deputy governor. If the deputy governor calls for a meeting, he will not attend.

It was not his fault that he was made the acting governor. The constitution says if his boss was ill, he must take over, and you must willy-nilly obey but Wale Akinterinwa and his team, Aragbaye, who was the former permanent secretary,  became what people called a cabal.

I heard of the situation when the deputy governor or acting governor then, was to go for a meeting in Abuja, and he was told ‘We don’t have money for you to go’. I was told that when the man asked about the Security Vote in case anything happened, he was told he was not to access it. 

That was the state of affairs. So there was an Acting Governor who was acting in the air, there was a governor who was absent from duty. Ondo State was rudderless. 

We had thought the situation would be ameliorated and reduced to the barest minimum when we heard that the Governor was coming in.

So we had thought that all of us would go to the airport, in Akure, with talking drums and all that to welcome him. All we witnessed was the Yar’Adua scenario. Surreptitiously, they said the man had arrived but nobody could locate him. 

I was told, I was not there, that the deputy governor went to see him, and took some files to go and see him, but he was not allowed to see him. If this is because of his state of health, that’s understandable. If a man is in that kind of state, you don’t allow all manner of persons to see him.

Therefore, that is the situation in Ondo State now. Ondo State is a flock of sheep without a shepherd, we are shepherdless and everyone is moving in whatever direction he feels like. And these characters that I mentioned, together with the wife of Mr. Governor, Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu are the people managing the affairs of the state.

The story is that the governor is in Ibadan. Well, I know he practised law in Ibadan before he campaigned to become governor. I know that he has his residence in Ibadan, but we didn’t vote for him to stay in Ibadan. That’s not acceptable to us, we want to see our governor, we want to see our governor talk to us, and we want our governor to address our issues. 

God Almighty will show mercy to him, but pending that time, Ondo State is larger than his wife. Ondo State is larger than Akinterinwa, it’s larger than Aragbaye, it is larger than his son, Babajide, it is bigger than any of them. They would go, Ondo State will remain. We cannot decimate Ondo State because of ill-advised and inordinate obsession to take over Ondo State at all costs. 

If the governor is not there, whoever is next in command should be supported. However, the one that is next in command is the one that is facing crisis now, as they want to impeach him.

I had thought and reasonably too, that when Mr. Akeredolu came back from where he went for his medical treatment, he would thank the people of the state.

From what I can see now, it will mean that he was brought in for the purpose of starting impeachment, conclude it, and then go back. He has not been able to finish the impeachment, and we can’t see him, our governor is AWOL. We can’t see him.

The latest we heard about the governor is that he has written to the State House of Assembly that he had resumed duties.

What exactly, in your view, has led to the impeachment process against the deputy governor? 

I just mentioned that the governor wrote to the Assembly that he had resumed duties. That’s not good enough. Did he resume? It’s one thing to write, it’s another thing to fulfill the resumption. Who saw the governor when he was writing? This letter that was written ought to have been read on the floor of the House of Assembly. That letter is not to be written by the Chief of Staff to the Governor or any of his handlers. It should be the governor writing that he is going away for medical attention.

Have you made an attempt to see the governor?

If his deputy could not see him, is it me that would see him? That place is a private house. It is the Government House or Governor’s Office that I can make an attempt to go.

If you look at the trajectory of the debate between the governor and the deputy in Nigeria, it’s becoming a controversial issue and a recurrent one for that matter.

Don’t you think the constitution is the problem, as it does not explicitly declare the functions of the deputy governor so that there would be no clash when situations like this arise?

What the draft men of the constitution expected was that a governor would choose his deputy that he reposed confidence in. If he is not around, the person can take care. If he chooses the deputy for exigency and whatever that you are suspicious of, of course, he would face the consequences. I am beginning to think loudly that our lawmakers should now streamline what the functions of the deputy governor should be, both the National Assembly and the State Houses of Assembly lawmakers, must concur to the amendment.

Do you think, there is a need for legislators to make explicitly clear in the constitution that a governor or the president should not be absent for a specific number of days? 

You cannot be AWOL forever without transferring power. If you are going to go for more than 21 days, you must transfer power to your deputy. If you don’t, it becomes automatic. The deputy takes over as acting governor. Now, the governor may be sick, let us even assume that the governor is sick for a period of one year, and there are people who became sick for almost two years. 

Now, if these characters I mentioned are not the ones undermining the authority of the deputy governor, the state will run smoothly. And the deputy also must not show I have now assumed power, everything about my boss I should cut off. Where he does that, people like us will call him to order. You can’t do that, the man is ill, and you are there for such a time like this. 

It happened like this before in Taraba State. The governor became a pilot all of a sudden. The plane crashed and he survived. One would have thought that he would go and treat himself well.

And that’s what I expect Mrs Betty Akeredolu to do. What lies within her power is to ensure that her husband is hale and hearty. Ondo State is not a private property of the Akeredolus.