Kayode Ajulo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has weighed in on the Ondo state leadership crisis, claiming that certain officials had been performing statutory duties of sick governor Rotimi Akerodolu, such as signing documents in place of the deputy governor.
According to Mr Ajulo, the deputy governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, cannot take over from the governor because power has not been handed to him, and the situation has effectively led a cabal to take over the administration.
“I have it on good authority as a lawyer [that] some of the commissioners, about five of them, sent memos to the governor, and they all returned with approval,” Ajulo told Arise Television on the Monday Morning Show.
“Going through the approval compared to what the governor had approved when he was hale and hearty, there are notable disparities in them,” he added.
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Mr Ajulo also mentioned that private investigators were brought in to look into the matter, as permitted by the Police and Administration of Justice Act. He disclosed that the investigation’s findings confirmed their suspicions. “The purported signature is not from the governor,” he said. “It is so apparent.”
The lawyer encouraged the state legislative body to do the right thing and enable the deputy governor to take over control until the governor returned.
Mr Aiyedatiwa and Mr Akeredolu have been at the heart of a public and judicial battle over the state’s leadership since the governor returned from his three-month medical leave in September. Mr Akeredolu first announced that he was seriously ill in January.
The deputy governor recently presided over the first state executive council meeting in three months, which was expected to calm the state’s leadership tensions.
While discussing the conflict between the governor and the deputy governor, Mr Ajulo pointed out that the only way to overcome the public perception that the governor is incapacitated is to present the governor.
“It is obvious that some people are holding the state by the jugular,” he said.
