ONDO CRISIS: TINUBU MEETS WITH AYEDATIWA AND GOVERNMENT AIDES TODAY

Babatunji Wusu –

President Bola Tinubu will meet with aides to Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and Deputy Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday afternoon to discuss the state’s leadership problem.

According to sources in the Villa, the meeting, which is expected to begin at 2 p.m., would be attended by significant stakeholders, including members of the Ondo State House of Assembly, among others.

The gathering comes only two days after Ondo State Elders and Leaders urged President Buhari to act immediately in the state’s constitutional crisis and avert a breakdown of law and order.

The Elders and Leaders also urged the governing party, the All Progressives Congress, to provide the necessary guidance to those in government and to maintain discipline in their ranks.

The elders encouraged the State House of Assembly not to impeach either the Governor or his Deputy Governor in a letter submitted to the President and signed by the convener, Reuben Fasontanti, and the secretary, Bakkita Bello.

“All unelected persons should allow the three arms of government to find a lasting solution to the current crisis,” they wrote in their letter.

Ondo state has been a hotbed of political uncertainty in recent months due to the Governor’s absence in Germany for medical treatment.

Despite returning to Nigeria in the first week of September following a three-month medical leave, Akeredolu had been working from Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.

In his absence, his deputy, Aiyedatiwa, is facing impeachment by Ondo parliament over claims of severe misconduct.

Meanwhile, Tinubu directed that the police leave the premises of the Ondo State House of Assembly in Akure.