I am not Akeredolu’s decreed adversary, Says Adelami

According to Dr. Olaide Adelami, the deputy governor of Ondo State, is a sworn enemy of the late state governor Rotimi Akeredolu and has refuted the malicious campaign.

The clarifications were given by Adelami in relation to a report purportedly funded by a section of the House of Representatives’ Ondo State All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus.

Adelami claims that certain representatives who were upset with the late Akeredolu wrote a letter to President Bola Tinubu stating that Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa had shown his dislike for the late Akeredolu by making multiple decisions.

The letter also called Adelami the late Akeredolu’s sworn adversary.The deputy governor responded by emphasising how he, Adelami, gave the late governor, Akeredolu, financial, political, and spiritual support during the electioneering campaigns that led to his first and second terms in office.

The statement was signed by his spokesperson, John Paul Akinduro.Adelami went on to call the purported petition that the irate “honourables” had sent to Tinubu a fabricated and malicious statement that is not only wholly untrue but also malicious.

“The often repeated fallacy that His Excellency, Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa hobnobs with Late Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu’s sworn enemies is becoming excessively irksome and prattle,” the statement reads.

Normally, we would have disregarded this outright rumour, but in light of a recent media report, it is necessary to correct the record for the readers.

It seems that a faction of the Ondo state All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus in the House of Representatives wrote a letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, allegedly claiming that the new Ondo state deputy governor, His Excellency, Chief Olayide Adelami, mni, was a sworn enemy of the late Governor Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN,”For the avoidance of doubt, these ‘honourables’ have concocted and malicious statements, which is not only false in its entirety but also a mischief.

“Neither the late governor nor any other prominent figure in Ondo state or elsewhere had Chief Adelami as an enemy.

With a solid political and charitable background and proven results, the Deputy Governor is a respectable individual.The fact that Chief Adelami has been a steadfast ally of the late Governor Akeredolu for ages and a pillar of the APC is instructive.

During the late governor’s electioneering campaigns, which led to his first and second terms in office, the deputy governor provided the late governor with moral, political, and financial support. This support continued throughout the late governor’s tenure as governor of Ondo state.

This is a noteworthy incident. Notably, Chief Adelami accompanied the late governor on his campaign trail, walking alongside him as he made his way through the 18 local government areas of Ondo state, despite losing the governorship primaries in 2020 to the late Arakunrin Akeredolu, SAN.

Evidently, Adelami and Akeredolu are not the same people as those falsely described as “they did not see eye to eye.””Among many other items, the party chieftains, led by the State Chairman, Engr Ade Adetimehin, received 5,000 copies of the APC constitution and were branded Face caps and T-shirts with the inscription ‘Adelami Support Group for Aketi.'” These donations were made to support the late governor’s 2020 reelection campaign.

The late Governor, his running mate at the time, Rt. Hon. Victor Olabimtan, Ambassador Sola Iji, Hon. Ifedayo Abegunde (Abena), Chief Gbenga Ale, and Hon. Timehin Adelegbe—whose signature also appeared in the published caucus letter—were also present to witness the handing over of these items.

The press release titled “ONDO 2020: ADELAMI HANDS OVER CAMPAGN OFFICE, STRUCTURE TO GOVERNOR AKEREDOLU” with the rider “No Vacancy in Alagbaka, Our Unity Unprecedented in the History of Political Parties – Gov Akeredolu” on September 16, 2020, illustrates how these facts are well-established and in the public domain.

But, as the race for governor approaches, some opponents—who feel threatened by the prospect of Governor Aiyedatiwa and his deputy, Chief Adelami, run the state’s affairs—often exhibit this kind of political inclination and pull-him-down syndrome.

We implore the good people of Ondo State and all Nigerians to keep up their support for His Excellency Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa’s progressive, APC-led government. So that Ondo state will continue to flourish.”