The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the Ondo House of Assembly to commence an impeachment process against Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
In a Thursday statement issued by PDP spokesman Kennedy Peretei, the party said, “The time has come for the Ondo State House of Assembly to immediately begin the impeachment process of Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, for violation of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended. It is no longer news that Ondo state has been on auto-pilot for nearly six months, grounding all activities of the government due to the ill health of the governor.”
Mr Akeredolu, since his return to Nigeria from a three-month medical trip abroad, had been staying in Ibadan. This development is causing serious concerns among the opposition and critics of the APC government.
“The constitution envisaged that it is possible for a state governor to be ill or incapacitated as it is the case with Akeredolu now and therefore made safeguards,” the statement stressed. “Section 193 (2) states expressly that ‘the Governor of a state shall hold regular meetings with the deputy governor and all commissioners of the government of the state for the purposes of – a. Determine the general direction of policies of the state’ amongst other provisions.”
While acknowledging Mr Akeredolu’s ill health, the PDP decried the state of things in Ondo.
“When was the last time Akeredolu held a State Executive Council meeting? It is not a crime to be ill, but that will not be the reason an entire state must be brought to her knees,” added the PDP statement. “Our party wishes to urge the Governor’s aides to stop ridiculing themselves by defending the indefensible and standing logic on its head.”
The PDP, however, noted that the Ondo legislators should invoke section 189 (1) of the constitution to institute a medical panel to ascertain Mr Akeredolu’s medical status in the state’s interest.
In a swift reaction, the lawmakers urged the Ondo people to ignore the PDP, saying the main opposition party lacked knowledge of the duties of how the government works.
Oluwole Ogunmolasuyi, the parliament’s majority leader, said Mr Akeredolu had been performing his constitutional duties and had not breached any aspect of the constitution.
Mr Ogunmolasuyi added that the Ondo governor was performing his duties despite not living in the state.
“If the governor is not doing what he is supposed to do, we will question him. He has signed all bills brought before him,” the politician said. “What we know is that the PDP is a dead party. They cannot stipulate the duties of a governor.”
