Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state and Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti state have said they fully support the resolution of Sunday’s meeting of Southwest All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders’ meeting in Lagos State.
The governors also explained why they were absent at far reaching report.
They attributed their absence to lack of timeous communication.
The governors explained their positions in statements by their Chief Press Secretaries, Richard Olatunde and Yinka Oyebode.
Akeredolu described the parley as “commendable and timely”.
The statement said: “Governor Akeredolu would have loved to be present at the meeting for several reasons. Far more important, the issues distilled bordered on the Southern Governors’ Asaba Declaration. However, a slight mix-up and communication gap had caused his unintended absence, even as an earlier engagement had been fixed for Ibadan weeks before the meeting.
“Nonetheless, the resolutions reached by the revered leaders at the Lagos meeting are quite commendable and timely; the issues discussed are germane, and are clear indications that men of goodwill are working together to solve the nation’s current challenges.
“As one of the leaders of the APC in the Southwest, and more so that he presided over the Asaba meeting of the Southern governors, nothing could be more spirit-lifting than the outcome of the Lagos meeting on Sunday.
“He, therefore, endorses all the resolutions reached by the leaders who attended the meeting.”
Fayemi claimed that the invitation for the meeting, which was said to have been sent via a WhatsApp message, did not get to him.
The statement reads: “Dr. Fayemi’s absence at the meeting was a result of a mix-up in the invitation sent out for the meeting.
“For clarity, the invitation for the meeting, which was said to have been sent via WhatsApp by Mr. Tunde Rahman, an aide to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, never got to Governor Fayemi.
“The absence of an invitation for the Southwest APC leaders’ meeting prevented the governor from attending the meeting, as he was not aware.
“Governor Fayemi, however, sent an apology to the meeting through former Ekiti State Governor and Minister of Industries, Trade and Investments, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, as he was already scheduled to attend another event at the time he came to learn about the meeting.
“Governor Fayemi, as a true democrat and Southwest leader who is committed to the welfare of the people, is, however, in total support of the decisions reached by the Southwest leaders at the meeting, which include an endorsement of the positions earlier adopted by the Southern Governors’ Forum (SGF) on the ban on open grazing and the need for true federalism, among others.”
