Ondo: How much longer can Ajayi remain in office?

Following moves by supporters of Governor Rotimi Ajayi and Ondo State House of Assembly members to impeach Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi, or force him to resign, and his insistence on completing his tenure, ‘Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor, reports that the face-off between the two political leaders has continued to generate tension in the state 

 

WHILE reviewing his performance in the October 10 Governorship Election in Ondo State, the camp of Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi, who ran as the gubernatorial candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), said he was robbed of victory. According to a leading chieftain of the party in Akure, the state capital, “while the All Progressives Congress (APC) used the machineries of state to stampede supporters of the deputy governor into staying away from the polling units on election day, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on its part, went to town with fake news of Ajayi’s quitting of the gubernatorial race. All these worked against our victory. It wasn’t a free and fair race at all.”

But an appraisal of his defeat at the gubernatorial poll is the least of Ajayi’s worries as we speak. This is because indications daily reveal that the embattled ZLP candidate is currently fighting a tough political battle to remain as the second in command to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of the APC who recently won a second term with Ajayi’s kinsman, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, as his running mate. The governor and his new deputy will be sworn in for a fresh term of four years next year February, following their victory at the October 10 gubernatorial contest. So, all things being equal, Ajayi has till then to occupy the office of the number two office.

As it is, these are not the best of times for the deputy governor as his failure to win the governorship race on the platform of his new party has robbed him of the support of many of those who before now stood by him in his struggle to avoid being shown the way out of the Government House.” His support base within and outside the government has reduced drastically. As things stand now, many of those who were hoping he will humiliate Akeredolu by emerging governor-elect while still in office as deputy governor are disappointed by his loss at the October 10 election,” a source said.

Left without his rumoured political strength within the government and his famed massive support back home in Ondo South Senatorial District, he will now have to fend off an aggressive plot to remove him from office by the APC government. The Nation gathered that there has been a renewed effort by the state Assembly and the ruling party to remove Ajayi from office before February. “The ruling party is determined to humiliate Ajayi out of office. The leadership of the Assembly, especially, has been making frantic moves in the past weeks to reopen the impeachment plot halted by the judiciary before the election.

“Part of the plot is to suspend identified supporters of the deputy governor in the House before commencing a fresh impeachment process against Ajayi. The recent expulsion of the House of Assembly member representing Ilaje Constituency 11, Semilore Tomomewo, by the ruling party, is part of the plot,” a source claimed. Tomowemo, the only female lawmaker in Ondo Assembly, is a staunch ally of the embattled deputy governor. She was expelled by the Mahin Ward IV, Ilaje Local Government Area executives for alleged anti-party activities. She, alongside nine others, had refused to sign the impeachment notice against Ajayi, in July.

Tough choices

Findings by our correspondent revealed that Ajayi is left to make just one out of three very tough choices. “It is either he resigns or gets impeached as it is. He is not left with much choice. The third is for him to renew his legal battle against his ouster by the lawmakers. I can confirm to you that the pressure on him is immense. His allies in the state Assembly have been reduced following his defeat at the poll and some disagreements within his camp over the handling of his campaign and electioneering process. Politically, he is weakened and not in a vantage position to confront those who want him out,” a source said.

Giving a hint of what may soon befall his estranged deputy, Governor Akeredolu while in Aso Rock Villa to thank President Muhammadu Buhari for his support during Ondo governorship poll, insisted that Ajayi should resign honourably from the office of the deputy governor. The Ondo governor explained that there is no moral justification for his deputy governor to remain in office after betraying the joint ticket they share. Asked what will happen if Ajayi fails to resign, Akeredolu said, “if he if didn’t resign, his days are numbered.”

The governor, who said he will be willing to forgive his deputy his ‘sins’ if he realises his wrongs and returns to apologise, was however unable to hide his determination to have Ajayi removed before the expiration of the current tenure. “The truth is that Ajayi’s continued stay as deputy governor is not pleasing to Akeredolu, the APC and the leadership of the state Assembly. The pressure on him to resign is much. So is the plot to impeach him if he refuses to go honourably thickening by the day.

Though Hon. Tomide Akinribido, who represents Ondo West Constituency, said he was not aware of any plot to impeach the deputy governor, he confirmed that Ajayi can be impeached if his detractors are finally able to garner the required number of lawmakers constitutionally needed to sack him. Akinribido, a member of the Zenith Labour Party, is currently under suspension, following his role in an earlier botched effort to impeach the deputy governor last July. “Of course they can impeach if they have the number,” he said.

Earlier in the week, there were insinuations that Ajayi might turn in his letter of resignation to the Speaker of the Assembly before weekend. According to insiders, some political allies and friends were mounting pressure on the deputy governor to resign and avoid the ignominy of being impeached by the lawmakers. An ally of the ZLP candidate confirmed to The Nation that many people are advising him to throw in the towel and allow peace to reign in the state. “We want him to resign. He has shown that he is not a political push over,” a source added.

The Nation also gathered that aside the pressure on him by friends and associates, emerging facts about how Ajayi’s supporters in the state Assembly are allegedly gradually surrendering to pressures and overtures to abandon him, are also weakening the resolve of the Ondo South born politician. “The truth is that he has lost many of his supporters in the legislative house. Those who have not abandoned him are on suspension. A number of those who stood firmly with him before are no longer as determined to defend his interest as they were before now,”

“With the election done and dusted, and given the massive victory enjoyed across the state by the governor; many of us are of the opinion that it is unnecessary to keep opposing him. He wants the deputy out of office before February. We cannot continue to rock the boat and create crisis by opposing him. The deputy too should realise the game is up and help all of us by resigning. He has proven his mettle as a strong politician with good followership in the government. In my opinion, that is enough given the circumstances after the governorship election,” a member of the Assembly said.

Adamant

But some sources close to Ajayi claim he is not about to resign as being speculated. Also, the deputy governor, while responding to Akeredolu’s call on him to quit and go home peacefully, said through his Media Adviser, Allen Sowore, that, “I have been a politician right from my youth days, and I will continue to be a politician. This just concluded election is not a big deal, that victory was procured. But I will continue to provide good leadership for my people and show courage. I still remain in ZLP.”

Sowore, while speaking on the matter also added that “the deputy governor was elected together with Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu SAN by the good people of Ondo State in 2016. That four years mandate given to both men will not end until 23rd February 2021. The news of his impending resignation is being sponsored by the governor through the propaganda machinery and machinations of Ondo State Ministry of Information as a subterfuge in preparation for a macabre plan to put the deputy governor’s forged signature on a prepared resignation letter.”

“The public should be wary of the latest antics of the governor to remove his deputy illegally. The people of Ondo State, who voted for Agboola Ajayi as Deputy Governor in 2016, have not asked him to resign or quit the government,” he added.

The Nation also gathered that the deputy governor may have resolved to continue with the legal steps he took to save his job last July. Ajayi had filed a suit before a federal high court in Abuja to stop the impeachment move by the State House of Assembly. The state Assembly began impeachment proceedings against the deputy governor last July following his resignation from the ruling party and defection to the PDP.

Ajayi, through his counsel, I. Olatoke, filed the suit seeking to stop the impeachment process and to enforce his fundamental right of association. Aside the Ondo House of Assembly, other defendants in the suit include the Inspector-General of Police, the State Commissioner of Police, Department of State Services (DSS), and David Oleyeloogun, Speaker of the Assembly. “Unless the suit is expended with, we are confident Ajayi cannot be sacked,” a close ally of the embattled deputy governor said yesterday. And as the drama over Ajayi’s fate continues, the question on the lips of many is, “how much longer can Ajayi remain in office?