President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Friday night intervened in the political crisis in Ondo State, making the warring parties to agree to sheath their swords and reunite.
Daily Trust reports that the state’s deputy governor, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, agreed to close ranks with his boss, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
Political actors from both sides have before now tried to undo either Governor Akeredolu, who has reportedly been away from his desk for too long, or impeach Deputy Governor Aiyedatiwa.
President Tinubu began the marathon meeting, which lasted more than six hours at the State House, spanning into late Friday night, with a delegation from the state, led by Ondo All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman, Ade Adetimehin.
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Governor Akeredolu, who has been in Ibadan since he returned from a medical treatment abroad, was not physically present at the meeting.
In the resolution broached by the President, while Mr Aiyedatiwa agreed to carry members of the cabinet and other senior government officials along, the Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Hon Oladiji Olamide, agreed to halt ongoing impeachment proceedings.
Giving the assurance to carry all along and calling for cooperation to move the state forward, Aiyedatiwa said “I want to say that I pledge to all of you that I embrace everyone of you. I put behind all that has happened before now. I’ve let go and also let God, just as the President has advised us.
“And I want to say that no offence, no guile in my mind whatsoever. All that has happened is politics. Impeachment is part of politics. If you survive it, it is also politics. It has come. I’ve survived it and every other thing in his past. It is one big family and our father has intervened to bring all the children together to remain under the same family and with the position that I occupy, I will carry every one of you along in every decision that needs to be taken and everything that we do we will work together; the executive and the legislature will work together to ensure that governance is on the right track.
“We should respect one another regarding the offices we occupy and our age differences. So, it’s going to be mutual respect. And I want to assure the party structure that we will work together because the party is supreme. We will always give you the due respect”, Aiyedatiwa said.
Reading out details of the resolutions after meeting, Olamide Oladiji, Speaker of the state House of Assembly, said, “Our resolution is that one, we shall embrace peace. Secondly, there would be no more dissolution of the cabinet and the Deputy Governor would maintain status quo as far as the House of Assembly leadership is concerned.
“We will maintain status quo as far as the party leadership in the state is concerned and maintain status quo as far as the leadership of the State House of Assembly is concerned. Thank you, Mr. President.”
Friday’s meeting seemed like a follow up on an appeal to President Tinubu, by leaders and elders of the state, to urgently intervene in the crisis.
