Sick Rotimi Akeredolu To Be Removed As Ondo Governor Next Week

Barring any last-minute change, sick Rotimi Akeredolu is set to be removed as Ondo Governor.

Newsone reports that the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu alongside other leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nigeria’s ruling party, have agreed to invoke the doctrine of necessity to appoint embattled Deputy Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa as acting governor, effectively resolving the five-month-long crisis in the state due to the ailing health of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.

This online news platform understands that the decision to remove sick Rotimi Akeredolu as Ondo Governor was reached during a closed-door meeting held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday. The meeting had President Tinubu together with members of Akeredolu’s cabinet and lawmakers from the Ondo State House of Assembly.

The Ondo Governor, who returned from Germany in September after a prolonged medical leave, has remained absent from the state, opting to recuperate in his residence in Ibadan, Oyo State. His extended absence has fueled political tension and uncertainty, prompting the need for a decisive resolution.

With the doctrine of necessity invoked, Newsone Nigeria reports that the Ondo State House of Assembly is expected to reconvene on Monday, 27 November 2023, to formalise Aiyedatiwa’s appointment as acting governor, granting him full executive powers to steer Ondo state forward in the absence of sick Rotimi Akeredolu.

This is not the first time the doctrine of necessity, a legal principle that allows for extraordinary measures to maintain order and uphold constitutional principles will be deployed in Nigeria’s political landscape. In 2010, it was invoked to resolve a similar crisis arising from the prolonged absence of then-President Umar Yar’Adua, paving the way for Goodluck Jonathan to assume the role of acting president.

Newsone gathered that President Tinubu’s decision to intervene in the matter was driven by concerns over the escalating political tension in Ondo State, exacerbated by Akeredolu’s absence and the power struggles between cabinet members and lawmakers.

President Tinubu’s meeting at the Presidential Villa brought together key figures, including APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, Deputy Governor Aiyedatiwa, Ondo State APC Chairman Ade Adetimehin, Ondo State Secretary to the Government Oladuni Odu, former APC national chairman Bisi Akande, Finance Commissioner Wale Akinrinwa, Ondo Assembly Speaker Olamide Oladiji, and members of the National Assembly from Ondo State.

It was gathered that the governor’s wife, Betty Akeredolu, and son, Babajide, were reportedly denied entry to the meeting room during the critical decision-making process.