Politics

Ondo Crisis Worsens, Assembly Demands Aiyedatiwa’s Resignation

Published

2 years ago

November 29, 2023

Editor

The Ondo State House of Assembly has warned against violating the resolutions of President Bola Tinubu’s meeting with the members of the House and other stakeholders over the lingering political crisis in the state.

The House held its first plenary session on Tuesday after last Friday’s meeting with Tinubu in Abuja.

At the end of Tuesday’s plenary, the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr Olamide Oladiji, disclosed that, as part of the resolutions reached at the meeting with Tinubu, the deputy governor, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, was asked to write an undated resignation letter and submit it to the President.

The Speaker said the President appointed him (Speaker), the Secretary of the Ondo State Government, Mrs Oladunni Odu, and the state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Ade Adetimehin, to monitor compliance with the resolutions.

Oladiji, who read the resolutions on the floor of the House, warned all the gladiators and stakeholders against violating the resolutions of the meeting.

The Speaker said, “For the avoidance of doubt, let me present to the good people of Ondo State, the resolutions reached after the meeting of representatives of the Ondo State House of Assembly, the State Executive Council members, members of the National Assembly from Ondo State and the state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress with His Excellency, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the leadership of our great part, that all parties shall embrace peace, that status quo be maintained by all parties, that all impeachment proceedings be terminated forthwith, and all court cases withdrawn by all parties.”

Reading further, he said the resolutions also included “that there will be no dissolution of the State Executive Council, that an undated letter of resignation must be written and signed by the deputy governor and submitted to the President, that the party leadership and structures remained intact, that the House of Assembly leadership remained intact and that Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa continues to perform the functions of office as deputy governor.”

The speaker noted that the lawmakers were acting based on the mandate given to them by their constituents.

“We, as elected representatives of the people, have only acted within the precinct of the mandate freely given to us by our constituents. We have demonstrated courage when the occasion demanded it. We asked questions when there was cause for us, to do,” the Speaker stated.

During the plenary session, 51 members of the Interim Caretaker Committee for the 18 local government areas of the state as well as the Local Council Development Areas, who had been screened by the Assembly, were approved, following the request of the Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.

The PUNCH reports that there was a heavy presence of security operatives around the Assembly complex while the Tuesday session lasted.

All efforts to reach the deputy governor on the telephone were not successful as his phone line indicated busy while the text message sent to him was not replied to at the time of filing this report.

But one of his political associates, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Aiyedatiwa was not pleased with the decision of the Assembly as it was against the resolution reached at Friday’s meeting

“You can see that the deputy governor was not in the state yet. He is waiting for the House to declare him the acting governor before coming. But I don’t know what will happen next on the matter because the House has not kept its own part of the ‘deal’.

“The status quo they are talking about is for the deputy governor to be acting as the governor and that is what I expected the speaker to read today but he didn’t put that in his speech. Let’s see what happens next.”

Politics

By-Election: APC Correcting PDP 8 Years Of Underdevelopment In Edo, Days Idahosa

Published

1 day ago

August 12, 2025

Editor

The deputy governor of Edo State, Hon. Dennis Idahosa says the Monday Okpebholo-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration in the state is correcting the eight years wrong of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

Idahosa, however, urged more support for the administration and the APC to attract more developmental projects across the nook and cranny of the state.

Idahosa made this statement when the campaign train stormed Usen and Ugbogui wards of Ovia South West Local Government Area.

He urged the people to come out enmass to exercise their civic duty on Saturday in support of the APC candidate, Hon. Omosede Igbinedion.

Idahosa said support for the party would mean more developmental projects for the area that had lacked same from the immediate past administration of the PDP.

“The present APC government led by Sen. Monday Okpebholo is the one that has started transforming your area within nine months in the office.

“He can only do more with your support, especially by voting for his party’s candidate on Saturday,” he pleaded.

On her part, the APC candidate, Omosede Igbinedion, promised to synergise with the governor his deputy to attract more developmental projects to the constituency.

Similarly, the state’s Commissioner for Education, Paddy Iyamu, said the government has put measures in place to ensure no students is sent home for want of school fee.

According to him, the state government has concluded plans to pay bursaries for students while market women would enjoy soft loans.

Meanwhile, Elawure of Usen, Ovia south west local government ,have advised Politicians to be united in their pursuit of common goal of delivery dividends of democracy to the people.

Oluogbe II gave this advise when he received the campaign team of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by the state deputy governor, Hon. Dennis Idahosa.

The traditional ruler expressed joy in the unity between Idahosa and the APC candidate for the Ovia federal constituency bye-election scheduled Saturday, Hon. Omosede Igbinedion.

He noted that the present unity and synergy between the former political foe would bring nothing but victory for their party, as well as development to the people of the federal constituency.

Politics

Jonathan, Obi Can’t Match APC’s Strength For 2027 – Mustapha Salihu

Published

2 days ago

August 11, 2025

Editor

The National Vice Chairman (North-East) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Mustapha Salihu, has dismissed the chances of former President Goodluck Jonathan and former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi emerging as strong contenders for the 2027 elections under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Speaking in an interview on Arise News on Sunday, Salihu described the PDP as technically non-existent and argued that neither Jonathan nor Obi possessed the political capacity to challenge the APC’s structure and readiness.

“Jonathan is a gentleman and a patriotic Nigerian, but when it comes to performance, the difference between his six years and President Tinubu’s two years is clear,” Salihu said.

“We inherited what seemed like insurmountable security and economic challenges, yet we have stabilised critical sectors, taken courageous decisions, and achieved visible results. Jonathan does not have the political acumen to take the tough decisions required at this time.”

Salihu claimed that those urging Jonathan to return to the PDP were driven by personal interests rather than concern for Nigeria.

“Some of them were part of his government and want to rule the country by proxy. Nigerians will not subscribe to that,” he said, adding that the deep divisions within the PDP make a Jonathan candidacy unrealistic.

On Obi, Salihu criticised his post-2023 political strategy, saying the former governor lost the momentum he had after the last election.

“Obi had a near revolution in 2023 with massive youth support, but after losing, he abandoned his governorship candidates. If he had supported them, he could have had at least seven governors today as a launchpad for the future. Instead, he made alliances that did not benefit him, and now he lacks the structure to contest and win a presidential election in Nigeria,” he stated.

The APC chieftain insisted the ruling party was fully prepared for 2027.

“We are not panicking or shaking. We have the structure, leadership ability, achievements, and organisational capacity to prosecute an election any day, any time. No party in Nigeria today can match the APC,” he added.

Politics

Alleged ₦3.51bn Travel Expenditure: Ignore PDP’s Claim On Okpebholo, Edo APC Tells Residents

Published

2 days ago

August 11, 2025

Editor

Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged residents of the state to ignore PDP’s allegation that governor of the state, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has spent a whopping ₦3.51bn on travels in the last eight months.

In a statement signed by
Emperor Jarrett Tenebe,
State Chairman of the party, and made available to INFO DAILY in Benin on Monday, the APC said such claims were imagination of the PDP, adding that it “exposed their poor and lack of understanding of broader key economic indicators—which reflected in their negative impact on Edo State people throughout their disastrous eight years administration.”

Tenebe, who said the state governor has not embarked on any foreign trip since he assumed office on November 12, 2024, stressed that Okpebholo has demonstrated prudence since taking over from the opposition party.

He said: “For the records, the APC administration led by His Excellency Senator Monday Okpebholo has demonstrated financial prudence since taking over from the PDP abstracted-MOU ‘419’ government on November 12, 2024.

“Accusing the present administration of wasting ₦3.51bn on imaginable ‘travels’ when the governor has not embarked on any foreign trip since November 12, 2024, shows that the half a dozen PDP renegades are obviously suffering from an acute form of hallucination which is associated with neurological disorders, due to the effects of overdose of substances and post election defeat syndrome.

“Our party, the APC wishes to place on record that Senator Okpebholo is a grassroots leader who is interested in finding home grown solutions to reposition the various sectors for measurable growth in the shortest possible time.”

The APC State Chairman, who noted that the current admission is interested in development across the state and nothing else, Okpebholo will never siphon resources meant for the development of the state.

He added: “The APC government in Edo State is only interested in all round development of the 18 local government areas in line with global best practices.

“Governor Okpebholo will not continue in the habit of siphoning the state’s resources through fictitious globe trotting as witnessed in the last PDP administration.”