SaharaReporters reported how the governor had been receiving chemotherapy for the treatment of leukaemia (blood cancer) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The convener of the #RevolutionNow campaign in Nigeria, Omoyele Sowore, has described the ailing governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu as the most expensive ghost worker in the country’s public sector history.
Sowore said this during his speech at the town hall meeting held on Saturday in the state capital, Akure to demand the immediate resignation of Akeredolu as the state governor because of his inability to perform his constitutional duties.
Governor Akeredolu was last seen in an official capacity on May 17, 2023, when he played host to the Ondo State Cocoa Council delegation led by its chairman, Dr. Olusegun Awolumate, at the Governor’s Office, Alagbaka, Akure, the state capital.
Since then, Akeredolu has been conspicuously missing at public events. This raised eyebrows among Nigerians who expressed concerns about the governor’s health status.
SaharaReporters reported how the governor had been receiving chemotherapy for the treatment of leukaemia (blood cancer) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Sources had told SaharaReporters that the medication knocked the governor out for 10 hours each time and that he was barely lucid during the day or at night to the ailment and treatment.
Akeredolu returned in September to Nigeria from a three-month medical leave in Germany. But instead of going to his state – Ondo – he stayed in Ibadan and had not set foot in his state since then.
His aides claimed he could continue to govern from Ibadan until President Bola Tinubu intervened and that directed that his deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa should be allowed to take over in acting capacity.
SaharaReporters further learnt that at a time when the governor was lucid enough, he requested his family to take him to Owo, his hometown in Ondo, saying he preferred to die there. However, sources said his family, led by his wife, Betty and son, Babajide shunned the helpless governor’s request over fear that his true state of health would come to light.
Speaking on this situation, Sowore said despite his inability to perform his role as the governor of the state, his administration squandered about N8 billion earmarked for security votes.
He said, “Akeredolu has become a ghost worker in Ondo State. He is the most expensive ghost worker in Nigerian history. Somebody who did not come to work but squandered N7.9billion on security votes.”
The human rights advocate also berated President Tinubu for turning a blind eye to the alleged forgery of Akeredolu’s signature by his cronies in the state.
He continued: “And we need to tell their senior brother in Abuja, Tinubu; I don’t know why he thinks he can sit in Abuja and tell Ondo State people what to do. Ondo State is different from Lagos. Ondo state is different from the nonsense that brought them to power.
“And I don’t know, Tinubu always loves people with forgery. How can you accept a forgery of a signature of a governor even after they claimed they resolved the problem? He still asked them to go and forge another letter. Ask the member of the House of Assembly to show you a copy of the letter they said that Akeredolu wrote again. You cannot find a letter because there is no letter.”
On Monday evening, Sowore, in a post shared on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, said that the Deji of Akure Palace had sent him a letter informing him of the cancellation of the booking made for the venue of the town hall meeting.
He said he had received information that the Department of State Services (DSS) had pressured the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi, Odundun II, not to release the hall for the event.
But the activist and candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections swiftly said he had instructed his lawyers to file a suit against the Deji of Akure Palace and the DSS over their attempt to cancel his booking of Akure Town Hall for Saturday's event.
According to Sowore, the DSS asked the monarch to return the N100,000 deposit he had made.
Sowore thereafter insisted that the town hall meeting would go on as planned and that the call for Akeredolu’s resignation still stood.
In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle on Saturday, Sowore said, "We arrived ONDO State today and fulfilled our promise to the beleaguered people of the state.
"We held a Townhall meeting at the Akure Town Hall despite threats, demobilisation and strong arm tactics by the Nigerian state. And it’s cowardly agents. The #AkeredoluMustResign outing was a success. Great thanks to our revolutionary colleagues, the press particularly @NewsCentralTV for the standing firm and ensuring that Gov. Akeredolu of @OfficialAPCNg and his cabal did not get away with blue murder. #RevolutionNow #Takeitback @EiENigeria thanks for your courageous support."