Aiyedatiwa to preside over Ondo Exco meeting Thursday

Peace may be returning to the Ondo State Executive Council as it holds its meeting today in Akure, the state capital, after three months.

Deputy Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa will preside over the meeting, which is the first since the warring camps endorsed a peace deal at a reconciliation meeting hosted in Abuja by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the weekend.

However, some elite are kicking against the resolution that the deputy governor should submit an undated letter of resignation.

Commissioner for Information and Orientation Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, who confirmed the scheduled meeting, said the deputy governor will preside as vice chairman.

But, the commissioner could not confirm to reporters last night whether Aiyedatiwa has returned to Akure, although sources hinted that he had returned from Abuja where he spent some weeks while battling to starve off the impeachment proceedings by the House of Assembly.

He got a reprieve at the peace meeting where the House of Assembly was directed to drop the impeachment plan.

A source said: “Exco meeting will be held about three months after the last meeting was held in Ibadan, presided over by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, when he returned from medical vacation in September.

“The exco meeting that will be held on Thursday (today) shows that everyone is sticking with the resolution reached with Tinubu.

“All that we are focused on is the development of Ondo State, and that should be paramount in the minds of all of us at the moment.”

A group, Concerned Elite of Ondo State, led by Dr. Olanrewaju Akeredolu, has faulted the resolution that Aiyedatiwa should sign a post-dated letter of resignation.

It also said it was unconstitutional to ask unelected political office holders to monitor elected official.

The group chided the Speaker of the Ondo Assembly, Olamide Oladiji, for reading the resolution on the floor of the Assembly, saying that President Tinubu could not have given an order that contradicted the letter and spirit of the constitution.

It also accused the Speaker of twisting facts to suit a certain interest by asserting that there was no agreement to transfer power to Aiyedatiwa.