As the new governor of Ondo State, Lucky Ayedatiwa continues his search for a deputy, an Owo-based socio-cultural group, the Imade Development Association, IDA, has appealed to the governor to honour his late boss, Rotimi Akeredolu by picking his deputy from the ancient town of Owo, where the late Akeredolu hailed from.
The group of Owo indigenes argued that the emergence of a new deputy governor would be a compensation for the people of Owo for the untimely death of their son last December, in Germany after losing the battle against prostate cancer
Speaking at a press briefing, Chairman of the IDA, Segun Ogunbadeniyi, the Secretary, Femi Fadaisi, and the Publicity Secretary, Julius Adesola, said since the joint tenure of Akeredolu and Ayedatiwa still continues, the right and proper thing for the new governor to do, is to pick an indigene from the same community of his former partner.
According to Ogunbadeniyi,“In our opinion, the joint ticket that expires in February 2025 is Owo/Ilaje. We do not understand any calculations outside of it.
“Whoever picks the ticket of the APC or PDP next year can therefore decide which zone to produce the Deputy Governor.
“Any attempt to erase Owo from the calculation until February 2025 by Aiyedatiwa, in our opinion, is unfair, not equitable, and can cause division in body politics,” he said.
The group maintained that there are prominent Owo indigenes that are capable of being deputy governors.
The names reeled out that should be considered for the position include Hon. Niran-Sule Akinsuyi, who the group said was in the trenches with Akeredolu during the 2016 elections; the Majority Leader of the State House of Assembly; Hon. Oluwole Ogunmolasuyi; Mr. Zach Adetula; and Chief Jamiu Ekungba.
“Picking from this list will be a fair deal for all stakeholders. The current situation is a joint ticket between Akeredolu and Aiyedatiwa, which they assiduously worked for,” he added.
