Ondo State Government Cabinet Splits Into Factions Over Governor Akeredolu’s Illness, Absence From Work

Dec 02, 2023

It was gathered on Thursday that the situation had caused divisions within the governor's cabinet, with some members of the State Executive Council taking sides with the deputy governor while some others remained hopeful that the governor would recover from whatever ailment he was suffering from.

The Ondo State cabinet has reportedly split into factions over the State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu's sickness which has made him incapacitated and unable to carry out official duties.It was gathered on Thursday that the situation had caused divisions within the governor's cabinet, with some members of the State Executive Council taking sides with the deputy governor while some others remained hopeful that the governor would recover from whatever ailment he was suffering from.SaharaReporters earlier reported that the governor who is currently battling with an illness, was unable to attend President Bola Tinubu's first meeting with Governors of the 36 States under the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday.Checks by SaharaReporters, which had exclusively reported that Akeredolu was bedridden in his residence in Ibadan, Oyo State, showed that Akeredolu absented himself from the NGF meeting and was therefore not on any of the photographs. Tinubu had met with the governors around 12:36pm on Wednesday.SaharaReporters had last week reported that ailing Akeredolu was unable to sign official documents due to his deteriorating health condition.It was also learnt that to prevent pictures of the governor's emaciated looks from getting out, the family asked security agents and a few politicians around him to put off their mobile phones."His condition is very critical now, which is why he is being flown abroad. He is currently in Ibadan because that is where the family prefers to have him when his condition is critical because of the prying eyes and civil servants in Ondo," a source had revealed.The Guardian reports that some of the cabinet members who were said to be in the dark as to the actual state of the governor's health, had been allegedly plotting to ensure that they remained in government in case of any eventualities as regards the governor's health status.An anonymous source reportedly said that some of the cabinet members had already begun to express loyalty to the Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa."The governor has been advised to deliberately spend quality time resting. So, the deputy governor went to Ibadan to see him and took some files with him. So for now, the deputy governor is more or less in charge and some of the cabinet members are tilting to his side already," the source said.

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