Following a meeting convened by President Bola Tinubu last night with political bigwigs in Ondo State, President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, spoke decisively on the part of the provision of the law by ordering the immediate emergence of the Deputy Governor as the Acting Governor.
President Tinubu had last night directed the State Assembly to adopt the Doctrine of Necessity in declaring the Deputy Governor the acting governor.
A civil society group, Act for Positive Transformation Initiatives, has applauded the President for his intervention but disagreed with Mr President’s acceptance of a letter transmission.
It will be recalled that Razaq Obe, commissioner for energy and mineral resources in Ondo State, had alleged forgery of the signature of Rotimi Akeredolu, the governor, on an official document.
Obe, in a letter dated December 7, 2023 and addressed to Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the deputy governor, explained that the irregularities were first noticed when a file from his ministry, out of the five submitted to the governor’s office for approval, was returned.
In a press release issued by Kolawole Johnson, the head of strategy, on Tuesday, in Abuja, the group disagreed with the decision of the President to allow any letter of transmission from the governor knowing full well that the governor is incapacitated.
In the statement:” We note that the transfer of power to the deputy governor in an acting capacity pending the return of the governor to his duty post is the constitutional and right thing to do.
“However, the point of disagreement here is the President’s acceptance of Babajide Akeredolu’s plea for a letter from Governor Rotimi Akeredolu transmitting power to his deputy, in place of the Doctrine of Necessity earlier directed.
“The President is aware that our organisation is already working with relevant agencies on the criminal allegation of large-scale forgery of Governor Akeredolu’s signature on account of his unfortunate ill health at the moment.
“The danger looming is that if a forged signature is allowed as the premise for transmission of power to Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, it will be difficult to reject the same forged signature on other documents that are currently in our possession and many more in different government agencies across the state. There can not be a rejection of the signature in some instances and acceptance of the same in other instances.
“We, however, do know that the President is fully in the know of Governor Akeredolu’s state of health at the moment, his level of lucidity, and his likely inability to sign any letter.
“It’s our concern that any attempt to accept a forged letter to the House of Assembly which will transfer power to the deputy governor in an acting capacity will confer some sort of legitimacy on the forgery already perpetrated which will make it difficult for the forgers to face the full wrath of the law in the fullness of time as we are determined to bring perpetrators to face the law.
Johnson urged President Tinubu to redirect the political actors to go for electronic signature to avoid another forgery, which is already established in some cases.
“In this circumstance, we suggest an electronic signature be used in place, or a law enforcement officer be sent alongside the Governor’s son to sign the letter in full glare of the camera.
“We advise that the right thing be done in making the deputy governor the acting governor while we pray for the full recuperation of the governor”.
