Ondo State’s Deputy Governor, Olaide Adelami, has denied allegations of being a sworn enemy of the late state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, calling the campaign malicious.
Adelami addressed concerns arising from a report allegedly financed by a faction within the Ondo State All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus in the House of Representatives.
Six federal lawmakers addressed a letter to President Bola Tinubu, alleging that Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa’s decisions exhibited hostility towards the late Akeredolu, while branding Adelami as a sworn foe of the late Akeredolu.
The deputy governor, in a statement endorsed by his spokesperson John Paul Akinduro, responded, emphasizing how he (Adelami) extended financial, political, and spiritual backing to the late governor (Akeredolu) during the election campaigns that secured his first and second terms in office.
Adelami dismissed the alleged petition sent to Tinubu by the discontented “honourables” as fabricated and malicious, containing entirely unfounded and false accusations.
The statement partly reads, “The oft-repeated fallacy that His Excellency, Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa hobnobs with Late Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu’s sworn enemies is becoming excessively irksome and prattle.
“Ordinarily, we would have ignored this utter hokum, but it is imperative to set the record straight for the reading audience, especially seeing a recent publication by some section of the media, where what appears like a splinter group of the Ondo state All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus in the House of Representatives, purportedly wrote a letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, alleging that the new Deputy Governor of Ondo state, His Excellency, Chief Olayide Adelami, mni, was a sworn enemy of Late Governor Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN, CON.
“For the avoidance of doubt, this concocted and malicious statement is not only untrue in its entirety but a mischief by these ‘honourables’.
“Chief Adelami was never an enemy of the late governor nor any other political player in Ondo state or elsewhere. The Deputy Governor is a decent politician and philantropist with verifiable track records.
“It is instructive to note that Chief Adelami has always been a strong member of the APC and staunch supporter and dependable ally of late Governor Akeredolu for eons.
“Worthy of mention is the fact that the deputy governor gave moral, political and financial support to the late governor during the electioneering campaigns, leading to his first and second terms in office and, subsequently, rendered the same support all through his tenure as governor of Ondo state.
“It is also remarkable that after losing the governorship primaries to the late Arakunrin Akeredolu, SAN, in 2020, Chief Adelami joined the campaign train and walked alongside the late governor as he moved around the 18 Local Government Areas of Ondo state. Clearly, this cannot be the same Adelami and Akeredolu the misleading statement described as ‘they did not see eye to eye.’”