The Ondo State House of Assembly, yesterday, members held a meeting with the National Working Committee (NWC) led by Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and declared a halt to the impeachment proceedings involving the embattled Deputy Governor, Lucky Ayedatiwa.
Ayedatiwa had been the subject of an investigation and faced the prospect of impeachment by the House of Assembly due to allegations of serious misconduct.
Following a two-hour closed-door meeting at the APC’s National secretariat in Abuja, both Ganduje and the Assembly Speaker, Mr. Oladeji Olamide, verified the decision to temporarily halt the impeachment proceedings.
The gathering on Tuesday included the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), the 9-member Reconciliation Committee led by Aminu Bello Masari, the party’s state chairman, Ade Adetimehin, and 18 out of the 22 APC legislators, overseen by Speaker Olamide.
The head of the reconciliation committee and former Katsina State governor, Masari, stated: “For now, the probe and impeachment processes have been suspended to allow room for the committee to work. We met with all stakeholders, except for the governor who we are still making efforts to see.”
Acknowledging that the legislators were in Abuja upon the request of the National Chairman and the reconciliation committee, the Speaker affirmed the lawmakers’ readiness to collaborate with the party.
He stated: “We promised to work with the national chairman and the chairman of the reconciliation committee to find a lasting solution to the political crisis in Ondo State.”
“We gave a promise that on our part, we are ready to cooperate as an arm of government with the party. At the same time, whenever they want to meet us, we will be of help to the committee. More importantly, we will allow the committee to do their work without hitches. Apart from that, we believe this is the only political solution that will be of help to resolve the crisis in Ondo State.”
“I have to thank everybody in the reconciliation committee which has experienced members, several senators, House of Representatives members, and even the two-term governor of Katsina, Aminu Masari who joined us.”
“As the reconciliation chairman has mentioned, they didn’t meet the governor and his deputy yet, but they met all the stakeholders. That was what warranted the meeting today.”
“And now, having suspended the impeachment process, they have created a conducive environment to continue dialoguing. We believe that we will reach a political solution. APC, as a political party, is an institution that is indispensable to democracy.”
“Therefore, apart from our basic function for recruitment of membership, elected officers, and appointed officers, it is our responsibility to see that all the ethics of democracy are followed and crisis averted in our government, both at sub-national levels and at the national level. It is a political crisis and we are a political institution. So, there is no way we can fold our arms and see that our children are fighting and we allow them to go like that.”
Akeredolu Not Going Back for Additional Treatment—Govt
On the other hand, the Ondo State government has refuted media claims that Governor Rotimi Akeredolu intends to travel back to Germany for medical leave, dismissing such reports as mere fabrications created by malicious politicians.
In a statement released by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Richard Olatunde, in Akure, the state’s capital, it was emphasized: “The report is concocted and planted by drowning politicians who are still nursing the pains of defeated expectations.
“The story making the rounds is baseless, unfounded, and only a figment of the imagination of evil-minded politicians.
“We urge members of the public to dismiss this false news and not be swayed by the lies and misleading information spread by those with ulterior motives.
“Governor Akeredolu remains dedicated to serving the people of Ondo State and driving progress in our great state.”