LUCKY Orimisan Aiyedatiwa has continued to head the Ondo State government following the inability of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to return to Nigeria after exhausting his three-week medical leave.
In early June, Akeredolu wrote the state House of Assembly requesting a 21-day medical leave to enable him attend to his health.
He consequently transferred power to his deputy, Aiyedatiwa. He was to travel on June 7 and return on July 6.
Because he could not return to the state as promised, the governor wrote a letter addressed to the people of the state on July 6 and appreciated everyone for their good wishes for him.
He also thanked President Bola Tinubu and other leaders in the country and expressed hopes to return to governance when discharged.
However, he said only his doctors would decide when he would be fine to return home.
The ICIR reports that the governor had proceeded on a two-week working vacation as part of his annual leave on April 3, a window many believed he used to cater to an undisclosed ailment troubling him.
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Akeredolu’s ill health became noticeable shortly after his mother died in September 2022.
In January, he admitted he was sick but did not disclose the nature of his sickness.
The Social Democratic Paty (SDP) in the state was among the stakeholders that expressed concerns over the governor’s health early in June when it became glaring that he could no longer discharge his official duties.
Speaking through its chairman, Stephen Adewale, in Akure, the state capital, the party said being a public officer, the governor’s health status should not be shrouded in secrecy.
The governor’s health has been concerning not only to governance but to the governorship election coming up in the state in 2024.
The ICIR reports that Akeredolu was sworn in for a second term of four years on February 24, 2021.
The governor appointed Aiyedatiwa in 2020 after a running battle and subsequent impeachment of his former deputy Agboola Ajayi.
Akeredolu is the 18th person to lead Ondo State since its creation in 1976 and the sixth elected governor of the state.
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2022. Contact him via email @ [email protected].