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The Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo State has taken its recent agitation a notch further, calling on the House of Assembly to begin the impeachment process of the state governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
The PDP says the governor is in violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.
But the House of Assembly has responded with a rejection, saying the PDP lacked the knowledge of how to govern a state.
While the PDP submitted that the governor had abandoned his duties leaving the state to run on “auto-pilot,” the assembly disagrees, saying that the governor had been performing his duties even in absentia.
“It is no longer news that Ondo State has been on auto-pilot for nearly six months, grounding all activities of the government due to the ill health of the Governor,” PDP Spokesman, Kennedy Peretei, said in a statement on Thursday.
“Unfortunately, rather than tell the citizens the truth, most of Akeredolu’s handlers have resorted to insulting the sensibilities of the people by making a public show of their ignorance. The handling of Akeredolu’s condition by his aides has robbed the Governor of public sympathy.
“The Constitution envisaged that, it is possible for a State Governor to be ill or incapacitated as it is the case with Akeredolu now and therefore made safeguards.
Section 193(2) states expressly that ‘the Governor of a state shall hold regular meetings with the Deputy Governor and all Commissioners of the Government of the State for the purposes of –
a. Determine the general direction of policies of the state” amongst other provisions.
“When was the last time Akeredolu held a State Executive Council meeting?
“It is not a crime to be ill, but that will not be reason an entire state must be brought to her knees.
“Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) Ondo State Chapter calls on the State Assembly to invoke sections 189(1) to cause a Medical Panel to be instituted to ascertain Akeredolu’s medical status and do the needful in the interest of the people of the state.
“Our party wishes to urge the Governor’s aides to stop ridiculing themselves by defending the indefensible and standing logic on its head.”
But the Majority Leader of the Assembly, Oluwole Ogunmolasuyi, urged the people to ignore the PDP because it lacked knowledge of the duties of a Governor
He said Governor has been performing his constitutional duties and has not breached any aspect of the Constitution.
Mr Ogunmolasuyi said the Assembly has noted ongoing developmental projects across the state including prompt payment of salaries and clearing of backlog of salary arrears.
He said the PDP was not in the know whether the State Executive Council meeting held or not.
“The Governor is doing his duties. Everything is going on well in the state. We have met with the Governor and all those that want to meet with him,” Mr Ogunmolasuyi said.
“If the Governor is not doing what he supposed to do, we will question him. He has sign all bills brought before him. What we know is that the PDP is a dead party. They cannot stipulate the duties of a Governor.”
But for a restraining order of a federal high court I. Abuja, the house would have concluded the impeachment of the deputy governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa over allegations of gross misconduct.
The PDP youth wing had earlier in the week staged a protest, calling on Mr Akeredolu to either who up or resign his position as governor over his continued absence from the state.
A peace intervention by the national Secretariat of the APC is also a factor playing out in what would become the fate of the deputy governor in the coming days.