Since returning from a three-month medical leave in Germany on 8 September, Ondo State Governor Akeredolu has been in his personal residence in Ibadan
A controversy is raging in Ondo State over the continued residence of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu in Ibadan (about 184 kilometres from Akure, his state capital) two weeks after returning from a three-month medical leave in Germany.
Since his return to Nigeria, the governor has not visited his state, despite officially resuming duty. The constitution does not consider it an offence for a governor to perform his duties from outside his state, but the opposition says Mr Akeredolu being kept at his residence in Ibadan is an indication that he is not yet fit to resume his responsibilities to the people of Ondo State.
While he was away in Germany on medical leave between June and September, his deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, served as acting governor following a formal transfer of power through a notice to the state House of Assembly by the governor.
The news of Mr Akeredolu's recovery from illness and return to Nigeria on 8 September had been received with relief in the state and jubilation among his supporters.
His illness and the ascension of the deputy governor to the leadership of the government in acting capacity had created a rift in the state executive council with Mr Akeredolu's associates suspecting Mr Aiyedatiwa of disloyalty to the governor.
Since Mr Akeredolu returned to the country, he has been conducting the business of government from his personal residence in Ibadan, including meeting with members of his cabinet, national and state lawmakers, his associates in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), traditional rulers and other stakeholders.
Explaining why he is in Ibadan instead of returning to Akure, his state capital, Mr Akeredolu's spokesperson, Richard Olatunde, said in a statement thus: "So, because we had to land here in Ibadan first, I said I have to meet with House of Assembly members here. We are here, and we are back. I am back, and by the grace of God, I will be alive to complete my full tenure in office. I want to tell you that I am back, and I will resume work immediately. This is my letter of resumption."
The governor's remarks in the statement were largely understood as a jibe at his deputy, who was the main beneficiary of the governor's incapacitation. In addition, Mr Aiyedatiwa is interested in running for office in next year's governorship election.
Although Mr Akeredolu is not eligible to run in that election, being in his second and final term, he is expected to play a pivotal role in the nomination of the candidate of the ruling APC.
In the two weeks since the governor resumed duty, his attitude to his deputy has been at best, testy. His aides and associates have publicly attacked Mr Aiyedatiwa and expressed rumours that the deputy governor and his associates had hoped that the governor would not recover from his illness to return to his seat.
One of Mr Akeredolu's first actions following his resumption was to sack the media aides of his deputy and transfer the duties of his media crew to the state Ministry of Information and Orientation.
In what seemed like a deja vu, the state House of Assembly, on Wednesday, formally began the process for the impeachment of the deputy governor. The lawmakers had taken the same step less than four years ago against Mr Akeredolu's first deputy, Agboola Ajayi, who had similarly been accused of disloyalty.
The current development came after days of speculations that Mr Aiyedatiwa was under pressure to resign. But the deputy governor had instead vowed not to do so, publicly issuing a disclaimer to a purported letter of his resignation.
While the drama between the governor and his deputy has raised the political temperature of the state, Mr Akeredolu's failure to resume physically in his state capital is further dividing public opinion in the state.
Controversial decisions
Another major action that Mr Akeredolu took upon his return from medical leave abroad was assenting to a bill establishing local council development areas (LCDAs) in the state. The state House of Assembly had passed the bill shortly before his return.
However, some communities in the state had protested over the delineation of the 33 LCDAs, which were created out of the existing 18 local government areas of the state. For example, the minority Ijaw ethnic group in Ese-Odo Local Government Area issued a 21-day ultimatum to the state government to reverse the ceding of their land to Irele and Ilaje local government areas in the new LCDAs.
A community in Akure South LGA, Isikan, also protested that the area was not given an LCDA. The various groups had expressed their dissatisfaction at the public hearing on the bill for the creation of LCDAs held at the state House of Assembly in August. Leaders of the aggrieved communities had seen the governor's return as an opportunity for reconsideration of their petitions but the governor had immediately signed the new LCDAs into law from Ibadan.
Ondo residents speak
A road transport operator, Adeniran Opeyemi, who lives near the Government House in Akure, said the absence of the governor created room for crisis in his government and laxity by public servants.
"I am not saying the governor should come back immediately, because anybody can fall sick. But his subordinates are not doing their work. Even at our parks, we joke that since the governor is not around we should not pay for tickets (local council levies on commercial vehicles),"
Also, a trader who gave her name simply as Mrs Ajisafe, quipped, "It doesn't feel like there is a government in Akure," when PREMIUM TIMES asked her about the absence of the governor in the state.
APC, PDP trade words
For the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Mr Akeredolu's continued stay outside the state showed that he is not yet fit to resume his responsibilities to the people.
The spokesperson of the party in the state, Kennedy Peretei, in a statement he issued a week after Mr Akeredolu's return from Germany, said: "Last week, we challenged the rationale for Akeredolu calling for a meeting in his Ibadan residence instead of Ondo State where he was elected to govern. Up till this moment, the governor has not been seen anywhere near Ondo State.
"Akeredolu is beginning to fuel media speculations that, against the advice of his doctors, he was hurriedly brought into Nigeria to foil an impeachment process. He also ordered an upgrade of his Ibadan residence to include a replica of the executive council chambers, from where he intends to hold exco meetings.
"Does Akeredolu want to make Ibadan the capital of Ondo State? What is the hurry to resume all about if he cannot come to Ondo State? Would it not have made more sense if he was still attending to his health abroad? Why did he say he had resumed when indeed he has not? Our party wishes to advise Akeredolu to come to Ondo State to complete his tenure."
However, the APC has described the statement as an indication that the opposition party wished the governor would not come back from his medical vacation. Alex Kalejaiye, the spokesperson for the APC in the state, said the governor has been attending to state matters since his arrival.
"It is unbelievable that the PDP is having a grouse with the location of our governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu. This is a clear indication that the opposition party never wanted Arakunrin back alive.
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"The crux of the matter is that Mr Governor has been attending to state matters since his arrival the way he ought to, irrespective of location. This is an indisputable reality. I sympathise with the PDP; it is a crisis-ridden political party that is bereft of ideas and no longer coherent and constructive."
Akeredolu has violated no law - Lawyer
Speaking on the controversy, the Chairman, Section of Public Interest and Development (SPIDEL) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Monday Ubani, said Mr Akeredolu has not violated the constitution by administering Ondo State from Oyo State.
Mr Ubani said since the governor is within the country and is yet to be certified as unfit in line with the provision of the constitution, he can keep ruling his state.
"He is not even abroad, he is living within the jurisdiction of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Possibly, he might be staying in Ibadan because he is taking treatment from UCH, instead of coming from Ondo all the time, so nothing is wrong with that. But if he is incapable because of medical issues then a different rule applies.
"There must be the activation of the process of certifying him medically fit and the process of ensuring that is also provided in the constitution whereby the members of the executive will move a resolution and a medical team will be constituted to ascertain his fitness to continue in office. But that has not been activated," Mr Ubani said.
Meanwhile, the deputy governor has been served a petition by nine members of the state legislature accusing him of gross misconduct, as Mr Aiyedatiwa continues to feel the heat of his boss' anger with him, all the way from Ibadan.
Ironically, the deputy governor owes his occupation of the office to the same kind of anger against his predecessor. Mr Ajayi survived an impeachment process and ran in the 2020 governorship election against his principal on the ticket of the Zenith Labour Party.
