With Governor Akeredolu returning to medical leave and his deputy back as interim governor, politics in Ondo was in a state of flux.
Conflict, they say, is a drama; how it is resolved reveals the characters of those involved. This is true of the political intrigues in Ondo State, which began, albeit subtly, early in the year but had become obvious by July, due to the deterioration of the ill health of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, who eventually died on Wednesday.
Contrary to the impression that the activities of government were not affected by the long absence of the governor, as created by agents of the state government, facts on the ground show that some of the businesses of the government suffered.
Insiders had revealed that the demeanour of the deputy governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who is now for the second time this year the state's acting governor, had drawn the ire of Mr Akeredolu and his handlers prior to the governor's proceeding on his first medical leave this year. That the deputy governor has his eye on the governor's seat ahead of 2024, was obvious to close allies of Mr Akeredolu inside and outside the government. According to sources within the government, Mr Aiyedatiwa does not have the skill to conceal his intent in the face of antagonisms and hostilities around him. His ego as the successor in waiting was observed in his conduct and attitude to the governor in matters affecting his office.
To many pro-Akeredolu cabinet members, this was the beginning of his fall from the place of preference.
The shadow of the bitterness first surfaced shortly before he first became acting governor as he battled media attacks that included an allegation of wife battery.
It was believed at the time the attacks were coming from the same group that stood against him throughout the period of the crisis.
Despite repeated denials by the deputy governor and his aides, the allegation was sustained and his image heavily battered.
When the governor indicated in June that he needed a 21-day leave for medical attention in Germany, and Mr Aiyedatiwa became the acting governor, there was little doubt that he would have a rough time.
It was gathered that he had no respite as a group of cabinet members, who were later known as the "cabal" checkmated and kept him under surveillance.
There were concerns that the acting governor's "disloyalty" would become profound with the absence of the governor. The split in the cabinet was deep. The animosity was beyond official levels. The family of the governor was involved.
Most of the aides of the governor kept away from the Government House and there was no relationship that suggested he was wielding any authority over the government.
As later revealed by the Special Adviser on Special Duties, Doyin Odebowale, the governor was actually in touch with home from his hospital bed, giving directives and approvals on the running of government despite emplacing an acting governor.
A commissioner, who spoke to this reporter in confidence, said Mr Aiyedatiwa carried on as if the governor would not return - as if he wished Mr Akeredolu dead so that he would become the governor.
Although he forwarded the bills for the creation of the new 33 local council development areas (LCDAs) to the state House of Assembly, and wrote letters that ended the tenures of the chairpersons of the extant LGAs, not much was accomplished by Mr Aiyedatiwa during his two months as acting governor.
Instead of the government focusing on its programmes for the development of the state, the battle for 2024 became the focus of its officials.
Mr Odebowale was later to allege during an interview on Channels Television that governance was in a state of coma in the three months that Mr Aiyedatiwa first served as the interim head.
"I can tell you for free, when he (the governor) was away, there was little governance," he said.
"People want to contest and they want to be governor.
"It is within their rights but they were distracting us. They were recruiting people to distract us. The governor is not petty."
The Secretary to the State Government, Oladunni Odu, also during the governor's absence declared her interest to run for governor. She used various platforms to announce that she was most qualified to become the first female governor of Ondo State. She was the only person within and outside the government who had the guts to make her governorship ambition public more than a year before the election.
Despite her effrontery, she was never the subject of any political rebuke and her declaration raised no dust as that of the latent intentions of the deputy governor, whose interest in the governorship seat was seen as an act of betrayal.
Ondo's representation
During the crisis, the state was not represented in the National Economic Council, the Nigerian Governors' Forum and other national engagements attended by other governors. This was because the deputy governor was not empowered to really act on behalf of his principal.
At the height of the stalemate in November, Pro-Citizens Coalition, a civil society organisation, decried what he called the continued absence of Ondo State from national engagements.
The group's chairman, Olalekan Adubiaro, said, "With Akeredolu not available in the state, his deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who is currently embroiled in an impeachment battle, had not been representing his boss at events, particularly at the National Security Council and National Economic Council, among others.
"President Bola Ahmed Tinubu presided over a meeting of the Nigeria Police Council on Tuesday, attended by governors or their representatives. Notably, Ondo State was absent," he said.
The group accused some persons within the state government of suffocating the deputy governor so that he could not play his constitutional role.
The circumstances ensured that cabinet members did not see eye-to-eye, since there was a serious fracture in the cabinet.
For instance, when members of the cabinet issued a vote of confidence on Governor Akeredolu on 16 November, the deputy governor was not informed of the event or invited to attend.
Two other commissioners were also absent and refused to sign the document when they were called to do so. The state executive council, which ordinarily meets weekly, was in abeyance during the crisis.
The executive council is responsible for advising and assisting the governor in the performance of his official duties. It is the policy making arm of the government and it approves most capital projects of the government.
Sources inside the administration indicated that since there were no regular meetings of the state executive council during the crisis, very important decisions of the government affecting the masses suffered from lack of attention.
Bills and legislature
Under Mr Aiyedatiwa's leadership, the bill for the creation of 33 LCDAs was forwarded to the House of Assembly which was later passed by the assembly.
Bur besides that, the assembly had suffered a serious distraction while it dissipated energy on trying to remove the deputy governor from office.
At some point, the lawmakers became polarised and took different positions on the impeachment project. At the height of the face-off, security operatives took over the assembly complex to forestall a breach of the peace.
The assembly's spokesperson, Olatunji Oshati, admitted that the crisis was a serious distraction as the legislature busied itself with chasing Mr Aiyedatiwa's shadow while trying to keep its house intact.
"We are happy that the crisis has ended and we can now focus on the business of governance," said Mr Oshati.
"The crisis was a distraction and a lot of setbacks were experienced. However, we are happy the issues have been resolved."
The spokesperson for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Kennedy Peretei, said the losses suffered by the citizenry could not be quantified in terms of naira and kobo, especially with the allegations of forgery of the governor's signature by officials of the state government.
"We are expecting the ICPC or the EFCC to investigate it. No one can tell the amount of money that was looted through such means," Mr Peretei said.
There were counter-a,llegations over the application of funds while the government was agitated. First, in September the deputy governor was accused of misappropriating over N300 million meant for subsidy palliatives. The Assembly hyped the allegation, as it was one of the allegations leveled against him, which he denied.
Shortly after that reports of a misappropriation of about N7 billion made the rounds in the media, suggesting that state government officials were stealing from the palliative funds made available to the state for vulnerable citizens.
A statement from the government denounced the allegations, stating that the funds were being administered in a transparent manner.
Concerns were further aroused in relation to possible financial abuses, when it came to light that the signature of the governor was forged on some official documents.
Ondo-born lawyer, Kayode Ajulo, first publicised the allegation on national television before a commissioner in the state came out to back the allegation with a forensic report on the forgery.
The Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Razaq Obe, said the governor's signature was forged on one of the files he received from the office of the Secretary to the State Government.
In a letter addressed to the deputy governor, Mr Obe suggested that the development could be widespread in the government, given that the governor was indisposed and some persons were trying to take advantage of the situation.
The scenario was a clear indication of a government without a controlling authority.
Some even challenged the deputy governor's authority to look into such matters as he was only a deputy governor and not the governor.
The clash of opinions offered by legal experts during the debate, largely in the media, further made the situation precarious.
There were calls to the relevant security agencies to investigate the issue but they have yet to take any action.
Mr Akeredolu's supporters made a counter-argument that only the owner of a signature can declare that it is forged.
The security agencies have not expressed willingness to consider investigating the allegations. Now that the crisis seems to have abated, it is unlikely that Mr Aiyedatiwa would want to again rock the boat with an investigation as acting governor.
Budget presentation
On the 5 December 2022, Governor Akeredolu presented a budget proposal of N272.736 billion for the 2023 fiscal year to the state House of Assembly.
This year, the budget was presented on 21 December. Going by the late presentation of the budget proposal, the state may not have a new budget at the dawn of 2024.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that efforts to get the budget ready for presentation began in earnest following Mr Aiyedatiwa's assumption of office as acting governor.
This is even as the Pre-Treasury Board Meeting for 2024 Budget started on 30 October, according to the state Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget.
Welfare and projects
The residents of Ondo State showed much empathy for the ailing governor. Their complaints over the rising cost of living have been muffled in the face of the pitiful situation of the governor. They had no one to call upon and no one to hold responsible for the crisis
State workers, admittedly, continued to enjoy their salaries paid to them as and when due. This is something that analysts agreed ensured peace during the crisis.
However, sanitation workers under the management of the state Waste Management Agency marched on the streets of Akure, the state capital, to protest the non-payment of their salaries. The workers, who are largely responsible for sweeping the streets and highways in the metropolis, said they were not paid four months' salaries. The sweepers, including old women and widows, converged on the premises of the Ministry of Environment to demand for their payments.
They accused the management of the ZL Global Alliances, a private company in charge of waste management and recycling in the state, as responsible for their woes.
Oluwaseun Ogunniyi, one of the employees, said they were former members of staff at the state Waste Management Agency until ZL Global Alliance took over their employment in 2019.
Mrs Ogunniyi explained that they had been sweeping the streets, highways, and markets and were still owed their monthly stipend for four months.
"There is no promotion and we are now being paid N10,000 from the N20,000 we used to collect under the state government. They just started paying us N15,000," she said.
But the management of the company said it owed the workers only one month's salary and was about to settle the debt.
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At the time of their protest, the state government was still embroiled in the battle of wits, so no one within the administration had any time to address the issues.
Recently, the non-academic staff unions of the state-owned Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, threatened to return to an indefinite strike if their 10-months' salary arrears and subsidy wage award were not paid to them.
There has not been a frontal intervention on the matter by the administration, raising fears that the workers may close down the institution in January.
However, key government works, including road projects, had been ongoing despite the absence of the governor and the attendant crisis. The governor's son, Babajide Akeredolu, who is the Director General of the Performance and Project Monitoring Implementation Unit of the state government, was reported going around monitoring projects during the crisis. The PDP had accused him of using the official vehicles of the governor with his seal while doing the monitoring. The APC took up from there, saying the monitoring of the projects as confirmed by the opposition was a confirmation that things were running smoothly even in the absence of the governor.
2024 election prep
According to INEC, the Ondo State governorship will hold on the 16 November 2024. Party primaries will be held from 6 - 27 April 2024, while the submission of the list of nominated candidates via the online portal will start on 29 April 2024, and close on 20 May 2024.
Gladiators are subtly endearing themselves to their respective blocs of supporters, but the ruling APC is in limbo. An insider in the party who spoke to this reporter, said with Mr Aiyedatiwa's emergence as acting governor, realignments were beginning to form.
The source said, "Instead of aspirants coming out to announce their intentions to run for the office, they are scared of being on the wrong side of the game at the end of day."
Those interested want to know the direction the governor was moving before they cast their sails. The hypothesis was founded on the premise that where the governor pitched his tent was certain to carry the day.
The deputy governor suffered enough over his unspoken ambition to run in 2024. He is unlikely to drop it now that the race is closer and with him still holding the reins of the state government, albeit tenuous.
Conclusion
While reassuming office as acting governor, Mr Aiyedatiwa admitted the "needless" distraction the crisis caused. He said members of the cabinet who were involved in the fray could have done better. He promised that now that peace has returned, there would be a renewed focus on governance.
This rhetoric needs to be translated into action for the people of the state to feel the positive impact of governance, especially in the spirit of the Yuletides.
Governor Akeredolu's demise on Wednesday is bound to alter the political equation ahead of the upcoming governorship election in the state. It is expected that realignment of political forces in the state will follow in the aftermath Mr Akeredolu's demise which opens new vistas of permutations and possibilities. It will as well necessarily reconfigure loyalties and interests of the political actors.
