Politics
ONDO State Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi at the weekend packed out of the Government House in Akure.
He then travelled to his hometown in Apoi, Ese Odo Local Government, where he tendered his resignation from the APC at his Ward 2.
Ajayi moved over to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ward office and picked up a membership card. He declared that he would remain the deputy governor.
The deputy governor is expected to be received into the PDP fold by officials from the national secretariat in Akure today.
Before leaving the Government House, the deputy governor had a face off with the police at about midnight on after some government officials prevented the removal of some of the items.
Ajayi has been at loggerheads with Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu. Interventions by prominent individuals to broker peace between them failed.
The deputy governor boycotted government functions since March, although their differences became noticeable last year after Governor Akeredolu returned from treatment abroad.
It was gathered that Akeredolu lost faith in his deputy when he learnt that he was putting political structures in place to unseat him.
As Ajayi and his aides were removing their belongings on Saturday night, aides to Governor Akeredolu raised the alarm that they were looting government properties as well as attempting to sneak out some secret documents. A quarrel ensued between aídes of Akeredolu and Ajayi.
An aide to the governor who pleaded anonymity said the movement of the Deputy Governor’s official vehicle’s was suspicious at that time.
“He came around 9 pm and wanted to go out with three vehicles but the CSO stopped him. He left and around midnight, his wife took three vehicles with state government number plates and some property were inside.
“She was stopped but she called her husband who came. It was then the CSO called the CP because he saw that there was no reason to be picking properties without an inventory being taken.”
Intervention by security personnel at the Government House could not save the situation which prompted the invitation of Commissioner of Police Bolaji Salami.
A viral video saw Ajayi accusing the Ondo CP of being used to stop his movement from the Government House.
The deputy governor’s media aide, Babatope Okeowo, who denied allegations of looting government property said his boss was prevented from leaving the Government House with one of the vehicles attached to his office.
Babatope said his boss was held back and barred by policemen from leaving for his personal residence within Akure, because of allegations that he has perfected plans to dump the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the rival People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
“The security officers led by the Chief Security Officer (CSO) told the Deputy Governor that he could not move his vehicles out of the Government’s House because it was late in the night.
“He said the deputy governor should come back on Sunday if he wanted to remove any of his vehicles outside the premises.
“The Deputy Governor however insisted that he must be allowed to remove his official and personal vehicles from the Government House. He said he wanted to remove his official vehicles because he no longer feels secured in the premises.
“According to him, suspected political thugs had been detailed to attack him and vandalise his property at the Government House once he declared for the rival political party.
The Deputy Governor was quoted as saying, “I have tried all constitutional and acceptable means to prevent this crisis. You are being used by the governor to deprive me of my constitutional right I am highly disappointed that a policeman of your calibre can be used like this.”
“I personally paid for this vehicle. You should not have put yourself in this mess. Let me tell you, you cannot repeat what happened in this state in 1983 because Ondo State people will resist you and your emperor with everything.”
But Senior Special Assistant to Governor Akeredolu on Special Duties and Strategy, Dr. Doyin Odebowale, in a press statement, said his attention was called to some strange human and vehicular movements around the Guest Chalet occupied by the Deputy Governor at around 9:45 pm, almost 3 hours after the commencement of the curfew in the State.
He said he left instructions that nobody should be allowed to leave the premises unchecked adding that Ajayi was not at the premises at that time.
The statement added: “A convoy of about four vehicles approached the main gates to leave shortly afterwards. The security men present stopped them for identification. Some of the security operatives attached to the Office of the Deputy Governor had earlier driven off in their personal cars.
“The civil servants working in that office had raised the alarm at the untoward occurrences in the official quarters of the Deputy Governor.
“They had challenged those bent on moving items out of the premises to wait till the morning as there was no prior notice.
“They had already moved out some furniture, DSTV Decoders, TV sets, among others. It was at this point that I saw some vehicles bearing Ondo State official number plates attempting to go out in utter defiance to the directive of the security operatives present.
“None of these persons was an official of the Government. All the drivers were unknown to the security operatives.
“I insisted that only personal vehicles must be allowed to leave after a thorough search. I directed that all the vehicles which belong to the Government must remain in the premises, especially the van which had been used to pack some items. All the vehicles moved back to the Deputy Governor’s Guest Chalet where he is staying.”
But spokesman of Ondo State Police Command, Mr. Tee-Leo Ikoro, said: “Salami’s presence at the scene was to calm frayed nerves.
“Having listened to the reason for the misunderstanding, I advised both sides to come to terms, a condition they both agreed.” – The Nation
– Jun. 22, 2020 @ 9:59 GMT |
Tags: Ondo 2020: Ajayi packs out of official residence
