Dr. Doyin Odebowale, a former Senior Special Assistant on Special Duties and Strategies to the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, has detailed what sparked the rift between the new governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, and Akeredolu.
In a viral video, Odebowale stated that the late Akeredolu would not listen to anyone who spoke against Aiyedatiwa. “Aketi will always shut you down,” he stated.
According to him, “the mistrust between Aiyedatiwa and Akeredolu started when it was found that a female aide to Akeredolu’s wife had been sharing confidential information about Akeredolu’s health with Aiyedatiwa.”
He alleged that “the woman was scheming to become deputy governor after the death of Akeredolu.
“Where is the woman now? She is with Lucky. What infuriated the First Lady at that time that she decided to misbehave was the fact that while this woman was pretending to be with Aketi, she was getting information about the state of health of Aketi and was ingratiating herself towards Lucky.
“She was seeing Lucky. She will not talk to Lucky, but they were seeing her in Abuja.
“She was scheming to be deputy governor in case Aketi dies. That was the genesis of the mistrust between Aketi and Lucky. Aketi never listened to anyone who spoke against Lucky.
“He will shut you down. Aketi will sit from morning until night signing useless files from these people who are now talking about forgery.
“Aketi mismanaged his health. The perfidy of many of his aides was unrivaled. They won’t allow him to rest; they won’t allow him to sleep.
“He took ill, and the next thing is, when will he die? People started holding meetings against the man who never offended them. I will talk about Babajide once Aketi is buried.
“Aketi rejected many chieftaincy titles. He stuck to Arakunrin. Those who made allegations of forgery should bring out the documents and show who collected the money.
“I was making money for the state, and they were spending it. I made doctors resign because they were collecting double salaries. People were retiring, but the wage bill was still going up.
“In the Health Management Board, doctors were traveling abroad, but the state was unable to employ them because they were collecting double salaries.
Rasaq Obe, the state commissioner for energy and mineral resources, responded to the charges by denying that he paid money to be selected as commissioner under the late governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
In a phone interview, Obe denied having a disagreement with Babjide about the supply of diesel in the state.
He stated that he led the campaign for Akeredolu to win the 2020 governorship election in Ilara Mokin ward, Ifedore local government area.
According to him, “I supported Akeredolu and gave him all assistance in 2020. I followed him through the campaigns, so it is not true to say I was a nobody politically. There was no need to pay the First Lady or her son for me to be made Commissioner.
“It is unfortunate that Odebowale is making these vituperations days after the passing of Akeredolu. He was one of the people who benefited from Akeredolu’s illness.
“There was nothing to quarrel about between Babajide and me. I never supplied diesel to any part of the state.”
Speaking on the issue of the forgery of Akeredolu’s signature, Engr. Obe said petitions have been sent to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), adding that the concerned persons would soon be invited.
Engr. Obe stated that if nobody was arrested and punished for forging late Akeredolu’s signature, the country would be viewed as a banana republic.
“Let us bury Akeredolu. The gate of justice will be opened. The political solution and the advice to unify the party, as advised by Tinubu, do not include forgery. Forgery of a governor’s signature and authorization of millions of naira are too criminal to be ignored.
“The individual doing all the forgery must be produced. Some of us were harassed. They hated me because I punctuated their activities. It is when the new governor opens the books that you will know the extent of the damage.”
