The Assembly has halted the impeachment process against the embattled deputy governor, following the intervention of the national leadership of the party, which met with some members of the Assembly and some party leaders in the state.
In a statement issued by the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Mr Olatunji Oshati, the House said it was only exercising Section 188 of the Constitution, having received a petition accusing the deputy governor of some allegations of gross misconduct and abuse of office.
He said, “The Speaker expressed the desire of the House leadership to further consult with members of the House cutting across party lines, on the political solution as proposed by the APC.
“The House therefore hopes that in the same spirit of genuine wish for a political solution, the deputy governor would take immediate steps to withdraw the multiple court cases he filed over the same impeachment.
“This would allow the stakeholders to freely discuss the settlement proposals and prevent actions or comments over a matter that is still subjudice.”
It was reported that the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, the National Reconciliation Committee, on Tuesday, had met with the Speaker of the Ondo Assembly. Mr Olamide Oladiji, some APC lawmakers as well as the leadership of the APC in Ondo state, where it was all agreed that the impeachment should be suspended.
Meanwhile, in another development, the Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has lambasted Dr Doyin Odebowale, an aide to the state governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, over his comments on the whereabouts of the governor.
Odebowale, who is the Special Adviser to Governor Akeredolu on Special Duty and Strategy, was on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’, on Tuesday, said the PDP could not ask for the whereabouts of the governor, adding that the governor could not rerun to the two-bedroom apartment he was occupying in the state Government House. He gave this as one of the reasons for the governor’s delay in returning to the state.
Responding to Odebowale’s comments on Wednesday, the Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr Kennedy Peretei, said Akeredolu’s aide was ignorant of what was expected of a governor.
Peretei said, “On a good day, it would have been unnecessary to react to Doyin Odebowale’s illogical argument about why Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has not been seen in Ondo State, because, he who drums for a madman is himself insane.
“However, to say that PDP has no business demanding for Mr Governor’s whereabouts is a measure of his ignorance of what is expected of a Governor that has been missing in action for more than six months.”
