The Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Hon Agboola Ajayi, on Monday dragged the State House of Assembly to court over his planned impeachment by the lawmakers of the state.
There are fears that the State House of Assembly may begin the impeachment process against Ajayi on Tuesday for leaving the ruling party to opposition.
But Ajayi through his lawyer filed the suit seeking to halt the impeachment proceeding and enforce his fundamental right of association. Aside the House of Assembly, the suit filed by his lawyers has the Inspector General of Police, State Commissioner Of Police, Department of State Services (DSS) and the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr David Oleyeloogun as defendants.
The suit filed by Mr I. Olatoke SAN seeks to enforce the fundamental right of the Deputy Governor to retain his position having defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to People ‘s Democratic Party (PDP)
The former Secretary to the Ondo State Government, Mr. Sunday Abegunde, on Monday said the Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, didn’t win the election in 2016 but that some of them made it possible for him to become governor.
He also said he had to resign from the Akeredolu-led government following the ill-treatment meted out to him by the governor for the three and a half years he was with him.
The former SSG said these in an interview he granted in the Yoruba language on Crest FM, Akure, shortly after he tendered his resignation to the state governor in a letter he personally signed on Monday.
The resignation letter titled ‘Letter of Resignation’ read, “I, Hon. Ifedayo Sunday Abegunde, the Secretary to the State Government of Ondo State hereby tender my letter of resignation.
“I want to thank Mr Governor for giving me the opportunity to serve the Government and people of Ondo State.
“Again, my family and I wish Mr Governor quick recovery.”
He boasted that he was one of the APC chieftains who worked vigorously for Akeredolu to ensure he was made the governor in 2016.
He said, “I suffered in his (Akeredolu) administration because he didn’t release any fund for my office grants. He has been telling lies that he was giving me N5m every month even when he knew he didn’t give me such money.
“Where on Earth did the governor give me such funds? Recently, I reported him to Governor Fayemi of Ekiti State and he promised to invite both of us to Abuja for settlement. I remember that I told Fayemi that I was going to spit on the face of Akeredolu if he repeated the lie that he was giving me N5m monthly if we meet face to face, and I would then return to Akure to resign and as well Inform the public of his looting sprees.
“Akeredolu didn’t win the election in 2016 but we made it possible for him to become governor. We were the pillars behind him and we will not support him again. He will lose this time around.”
Abegunde, a two-term member of the House of Representatives further said that he resigned because he could no longer be part of a government that made its subjects pass through hardship.
“The Akeredolu’s administration is making the entire people of the state suffer and I cannot be part of that any longer. Everyone is suffering. He doesn’t pay salaries at the right time. As a matter of fact, Akeredolu has not performed to the expectations of the masses apart from the roads he is rehabilitating.
“Akeredolu has turned Former Governor Mimiko to a saint with his own abysmal performance. We now see that Mimiko did well as governor because he gave his people enough funds to operate. I had worked with three governor’s, and I can say that in the history of Ondo State, Akeredolu is the worst governor,” Abegunde said.
Governor Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN has approved that the Special Adviser on Health, Dr Jibayo Adeyeye takes overseeing responsibilities of the Ministry of Health.
This development follows the death of the substantive Commissioner, Dr Wahab Adegbenro.
Dr Jibayo, a two term lawmaker at the Lagos State House of Assembly is a consummate medical practitioner.
He is a product of the prestigious College of Medicine, University of Lagos.
In a press release signed by Governor Akeredolu’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Ojo Oyewamide, Jibayo’s new roles are with immediate effect.
Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN has appointed Professor Adesegun Fatusi as the new Chairman of the State Inter-ministerial Committee Against COVID-19 following the unfortunate demise of the Ondo State Commissioner for Health, Dr Wahab Adegbenro.
Until his death, Dr. Adegbenro was the Chairman of the State Inter-ministerial Committee where he served diligently to the admiration of all.
Fatusi is the current Vice Chancellor of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo and he is expected to continue from where our late Medical Hero, Adegbenro stopped. His appointment is aimed at preventing a vacuum as the State experiences a disturbing spike of repeated cases of COVID-19.
Prof. Fatusi is a professor of Community and Public Health and past Provost of the College of Health Sciences at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Members and leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ondo state Council have received with great concern the unprecedented spike in the confirmed cases of deadly Coronavirus pandemic in the state in the last three weeks.
This is contained in a Press Statement jointly signed by the State Chairman of the Union, Adetona Aderoboye and the State Secretary, Leke Adegbite.
Ondo NUJ is also concerned that the state Health facilities have been overstretched by the pandemic,
It said ” no doubt the state is in health crisis, even as it pray God to grant Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and other COVID-19 patients quickest recovery.
“We equally register our sincere condolences to the family, people and government of Ondo state over the sudden death of the State Commissioner for Health, Dr Wahab Adegbenro who also chaired the state Taskforce on COVID-19 until his death. We pray Almighty Allah to grant his soul peaceful rest and continue to uphold his family.
” The Union’s Preliminary findings from its members who on the field showed that the state government was well on top of the situation of fighting the disease until three weeks ago when the government ordered the reopening of religious centres; while poor enforcement of 7pm to 7am dust to dawn curfew as well as total violation of precautionary measures at all markets, hotels, relaxation centres in the state without penalties against defaulters are other factors.
It also observed that despite the State government’s commendable distribution of nose masks to reasonable number of people in the state, the compulsory use of same was unfortunately not enforced at public place
The Union therefore called on the state government to consider the option of declaring a seven days or 14d ays lockdown to urgently stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic at a disturbing rate.
This measure would enable the government to carry out effective contacts tracing and deploy more combative efforts both from the state and federal governments.
It also cleared urged the striking doctors and the state government to immediately reach a compromise on disputing matters to facilitate effective treatment of COVID-19 patients.
The Union appealed to the Presidential Committee on COVID-19 and NCDC to deploy necessary resources to Ondo state like it helped in Kano and Lagos states.
NUJ warned members of the public to obey various COVID-19 precautionary measures, stressing that they should know that the disease is real and deadly.
The union seriously advised media professionals in the state to perform their duties with extraordinary caution.
As reported by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, (NCDC) Ondo state have recorded thirty-three new cases of COVID-19.
Also The Nigeria center for disease control (NCDC) announced the confirmation of 790 new cases of COVID-19 In Nigeria, with 33 cases of Ondo Inclusive.
NCDC made the announcement through its Twitter handle few minutes ago.
The Federal Government on Monday lifted ban on interstate movement effective from July 1, 2020.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation chairman Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, disclosed this during the daily media briefing.
National coordinator of PTF, Dr. Sani Aliyu also added that only fifty percent of the passengers of the buses are allowed during travels.
“Only 50% of the passengers are allowed with compulsory use of face mask,” he said.
The PTF, however, reaffirmed the continuation of the nationwide curfew between 10 pm and 4 am adding that “travels are not expected at this period.”
Safe re-opening of schools to allow students in graduating classes resume in-person in preparation for examinations and; Safe reopening of domestic aviation services as soon as p.
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Ondo State Command had said, hard drug usage remains a predisposing factor in the increase of rape cases in the country.
To restrain the menace in the bud, the command has arrested no fewer than one hundred and fifty (150) hard drug suspects between January and June 2020.
A total of 7, 702.114kg of hard drugs, comprising 7, 653.445kg of cannabis sativa, 48.669kg of psychotropic substances and 0.06g of cocaine were seized by the agency within the same period.
The state commander, NDLEA, Mr Haruna Gagara, in a statement to commemorate the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking with the theme: “Better Knowledge For Better Care.” said Among the 150 suspects arrested, 138 of them were males, while the remaining 12 were females.
He said drug use is a multi factional health issue and not just a moral failure as such stressing that there was the need for drug dependant people to seek help.
The NDLEA boss disclosed that among the seizures made during the period in view, sixty five (65) bags of cannabis sativa were seized on Friday at Agunla area of Ogbese in Akure North local government area of the state.
He said, “If we must enjoy a drug-free and healthy society devoid of crime, it is imperative that families, government, communities, non governmental organisations, civil society organisations and religious organisations should take necessary steps to counter the rising drug problems in our country.”
