The Speaker of Ondo State House of Assembly, Oladeji Olamide, has been saddled with the responsibility of facilitating the meeting between Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and the reconciliation committee set up by the ruling All Progressives Congress, Sunday PUNCH learnt.
This was even as multiple sources confirmed at the APC national secretariat that there was a remarkable progress by the Aminu Masari-led committee in its efforts to broker truce between Akeredolu’s deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa and Ondo lawmakers.
The development is coming barely one week after members of the Ondo House of Assembly agreed to shelve their impeachment move against Aiyedatiwa following a two-hour closed-door meeting with the National Chairman of APC, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, and the committee at the party national headquarters in Abuja.
In attendance were former Katsina State governor and Head of the reconciliation committee, Aminu Masari; Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola; among others.
After their closed door meeting, Masari had told newsmen that with the exception of the ailing Ondo governor and his deputy, his team met with virtually all the warring parties.
He, however, failed to give a specific date on when they plan to meet Akeredolu and Aiyedatiwa.
But reacting to the move to meet the Ondo governor, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the ruling party, Duro Meseko, told Sunday PUNCH that the reconciliatory effort was still ongoing.
Meseko also confirmed that Olamide had been saddled with the task of helping to reach the governor for the planned meeting with the Masari committee.
“It was mentioned at the last meeting (at the secretariat) that the Speaker of Ondo House of Assembly would be saddled with facilitating the meeting since the committee had not been privileged to meet with Governor Akeredolu.
“Until he gets back to the party, we cannot be talking about a specific date. But I can assure you, it won’t take long,” he said.
Ganduje’s Chief of Staff, Garba Muhammad, also shared the same sentiment when he noted that the APC had recorded some level of progress in dousing the tension in Ondo State.
The former Kano State commissioner for Information also argued that conflict resolution was not an issue that could not be achieved in a few days or a week.
“Negotiation is ongoing. More importantly, there is a level of unity among the stakeholders and the state Assembly. But the committee is making progress in finding a political solution to the matter.
“You will recall that that leadership of the party had met with the governor in Ibadan when he returned to the country a month ago and even spent about an hour talking with him.
“The interaction still continues. The committee has not finally completed their mission. But they have submitted something to the chairman, which he is working on at the moment. This thing is not the issue of one week or so because a lot of stakeholders must be involved.
“This is something we are doing in the area of dialogue to ensure whatever the party will take is in the interest of everybody, particularly the stakeholders,” he stated.
The reconciliation committee was set up by the ruling APC to interface and advise the party on the most amicable ways to handle the lingering issues and make necessary recommendations on resolution of any other matter that might come up in the course of the assignment.
Aiyedatiwa had been served with notice of allegations that bothered on gross misconduct in office.
But rather than heed the House directive to respond within seven days, the deputy governor obtained an order from the Federal High Court in Abuja to compel the lawmakers to suspend the process and ignore the directive to set up a seven-person panel to investigate him.
The growing tension and bad blood from the same party members have forced the leadership of the ruling APC to quickly set up the committee to end the impasse between Akeredolu and his deputy.
