Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s son has sought the assistance of Bola Tinubu to get an air ambulance to return his ailing father to Germany where he had been receiving treatment.
The Ondo governor is receiving treatment for leukemia and has been undergoing chemotherapy in Nigeria, which SaharaReporters learnt had been knocking him out for up to 10 hours after every medication.
Family sources told SaharaReporters on Tuesday that Akeredolu’s condition has worsened.
“He is no longer able to speak,” one of the sources said.
According to sources, this prompted his son, Babajide, to ask for the President’s help to speedily fly his ailing father to Germany.
“Akeredolu’s son is seeking permission and help from Tinubu to get an air ambulance to return his father to Germany,” one of the sources said.
SaharaReporters earlier today (Tuesday) reported that President Tinubu directed Governor Akeredolu to transfer power to his deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa and the Senator representing Ondo South, Jimoh Ibrahim.
Akeredolu’s son, Babajide, who was appointed by the governor (father) in November 2021 as the Director General of the Performance and Project Implementation Monitoring Unit, Office of the Governor of Ondo State (PPIMU), was also in attendance.
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SaharaReporters further reported that the transfer of power would be done by electronic signature (e-signature) as the ailing governor is too weak to sign any letter or document.
Tinubu reportedly told people at the meeting he had summoned to resolve the leadership crisis in Ondo on Monday that Akeredolu was incapacitated and could not sign a letter anymore.
Monday’s emergency meeting was the second one summoned by the Tinubu to resolve the leadership crisis in the state following the governor’s absence from office since July 2023.
The meeting at the instance of Tinubu was due to mounting pressure from the civil society organisation Take-It-Back, which had threatened to commence mass protests across Ondo State from Saturday, December 16 to demand Akeredolu’s resignation.
The ailing governor has gone AWOL since returning to Nigeria in September from a three-month medical leave in Germany.
Sources told SaharaReporters that it was first agreed that the State House of Assembly should invoke the doctrine of necessity to make Aiyedatiwa the acting governor, but some of those present at the meeting pleaded with President Tinubu that it would humiliate the ailing governor.
“During the meeting, it was agreed that the State House of Assembly should invoke the doctrine of necessity and make Lucky Ayedatiwa the Acting Governor, but the Speaker and Senator Jimoh Ibrahim pleaded that the ailing governor would be humiliated,” one of the sources had said.
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“The son (Babajide) then promised to go and obtain his father’s e-signature to pen a letter to the State House of Assembly, transferring power to the deputy governor.”
Sources at the meeting also disclosed that someone raised concern that since there was already a case of forgery established in handling the affairs of the state, it would not make sense for power to be transferred through such dubious means.
SaharaReporters on Sunday reported that a pro-democracy organisation, Take-It-Back Movement would organise a town hall meeting in Akure on Saturday, December 16 to call for Governor Akeredolu to resume office or resign.
The event will also mark the commencement of street protests to call for the resignation of the ailing governor who has not set foot in his state since July 2023, the report added.
Omoyele Sowore, the candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections, on Sunday, also called on Governor Akeredolu to return to office and perform his constitutional duty as governor of the state or resign.
Sowore, in a post shared on his X (formerly Twitter) handle disclosed that there would be a town hall meeting and beginning of street protests in Akure, the state capital and across the state on December 16, to demand Akeredolu’s resignation.
He wrote: “There will be a Townhall Meeting & a beginning of Street Protests In Akure and across Ondo state on Saturday December 16th 2023!
“All persons of conscience are invited! #GovAkeredoluMustResign #RevolutionNow.”
According to a flyer announcing the event, the town hall meeting organised by the Take-It-Back Movement and themed ‘Akeredolu; Resume Or Resign,’ will be held by noon on Saturday, December 16, 2023, at Akure Town Hall on Oba Adeside Road in Akure.
BACKGROUND
Akeredolu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), won his re-election as the state governor in October 2020 and was sworn in for a second term in office in February 2021.
However, the governor’s second term, since January 2023, has not been smooth sailing as he had to be flown abroad for treatment over a medical condition.
SaharaReporters exclusively reported in January that Akeredolu was suffering from leukemia.
Leukemia is a blood cancer caused by a rise in the number of white blood cells in the body.
Meanwhile, the family have been keeping his health status hush-hush to maintain their grip on the affairs of the state.
The 67-year-old politician returned to Nigeria in September after a three-month medical leave in Germany but has been holed up in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Meanwhile, Akeredolu has been under intense pressure from opposition parties to resign or hand over power to his deputy in line with the 1999 constitution. But his aides have defended his action or inaction, saying he could govern the state from anywhere.
SaharaReporters on Friday exclusively reported that a forensic report by the Association of Forensic Professionals of Nigeria (AFPON) had confirmed that the ailing governor’s signature was forged on an official document.
Meanwhile, there are indications that there may be more of such forgeries.
SaharaReporters got the forensic report on Friday, signed by Mr Nuhu Kutana Tanko, who stated that “there are strong indications the author of known specimen handwritings/signatures on known documents marked ‘K-K4’ did not write the questioned signatures on questioned documents marked ‘Q-Q2.’”
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The investigation was initiated by the State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Razaq Obe, who wrote to the Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, confirming the forgery of Akeredolu’s signature on an official document relating to his ministry.
SaharaReporters earlier reported on Monday that the Department of State Services (DSS) had commenced an investigation into the forgery of ailing Akeredolu’s signature on official documents.
Sources told SaharaReporters that Mr Obe arrived at the DSS office in Alagbaka, Akure at about 3:00 pm on Monday and was questioned for about two hours.
The DSS described him as a ‘person of interest’ in the investigation, sources said.