As calls for the resignation of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu increases over his continued stay in Ibadan some stakeholders in the state have added their voice calling on the governor to either return home or hand over the reins of government to his deputy Lucky Aiyedatiwa
Ekweanaedo reports that governor Akeredolu has been in Ibadan since he returned from a medical trip in Germany and has been ruling Ondo state from Oyo state.
Akeredolu left Nigeria on June 13, 2023, for medical treatment in Germany and spent about three months before he returned to Nigeria on September 9. He had earlier notified the Ondo State House of Assembly that he would be taking a 21-day leave and transmitted power to his deputy to govern in an acting capacity.
Upon his return, the governor is yet to set foot in Akure, the state capital, instead, he is staying at his personal residence in Ibadan.
National Publicity Secretary of the Ondo State PDP, Kennedy Peretei, has called for the impeachment of the governor for violating the constitution.
According to legal experts, in the case of health challenges, the first move to remove the governor must start from the commissioners, who have the power to declare that the governor is incapacitated.
According to section 189 of the Nigerian Constitution, only the commissioners of Ondo State can trigger the process of declaring Mr Akeredolu incapacitated.
The first step is that 2/3 of the state executive council must resolve that the Governor is incapacitated to continue in office.
According to the legal practitioner, since the Governor appointed the commissioners, it will be hard for them to recommend the removal of their boss.
“The challenge with section 189 is that it is hard to see a commissioner that will say ‘My boss, the governor is sick and unable to perform, so let us pass a vote to that effect’. It is hardly done. In fact, that provision needs amendment.
“Who appoints the commissioners? The governor. For them to pass a vote against the governor, owing to the infirmity of the mind or body— they won’t. It hardly occurs,.
Last week, 33 out of the 35 State Executive Council members passed a vote of confidence on the ailing governor and declared their loyalty to him.
Only the Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Razak Obe, and the Commissioner for Commerce, Industry, and Cooperative Services, Akin Sowore did not sign the document.
There are indications that politicians in the state prefer to wait for the next election which is in November 2024. The primary election is scheduled for April next year.
The travails of the deputy governor commenced when Mr Akeredolu returned to the country, and all media aides in the office of the deputy governor were sacked.
The loyalists of the governor in the State Assembly listed 14 offences committed by Mr Aiyedatiwa, including “gross misconduct, abuse of office with actions likely to bring down Ondo State Government, financial recklessness, publication in print media by your media aides maligning the credibility of the Governor, etc”.
The impeachment move has sidelined the deputy governor, who has been fighting in the courts.
The intervention by the National Working Committee of the APC appears to have slowed down the move but the deputy governor seems to have been relegated completely.
However, in the past couple of weeks, the attention has shifted away from the deputy governor to Mr Akeredolu. Ironically, the governor, who was the President of the Nigerian Bar Association during the sickness of Umar Musa Yar’Adua, was very vocal in the call for the resignation of the then-president over his health.
“No matter how much you love your country, it should not be at the detriment of your health. It is not your party or your wife that will decide whether you are capable of handling state matters; it is only your doctors that can decide that. The bar is not asking the president not to come back and take his seat, but the right thing must be done,” Akeredolu had said in 2010.
