Akeredolu: Why Aiyedatiwa’s Men Are Unease As Ondo Guber Inches Near

The chorus of the loyalists of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa is echoing throughout the town that the Ondo state gubernatorial election is his for the taking.

Aiyedatiwa—who succeeded the late Rotimi Akeredolu on December 27, 2023—is the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the November 16 Ondo state gubernatorial election.

He won the party’s ticket despite intense opposition from hardcore followers of the late Governor Akeredolu, who remain loyal to his widow, Betty Akeredolu.

They wanted one of their own as the successor to the late Governor Akeredolu, in a long-standing face-off with roots in the period when the deceased governor was battling the prolonged ailment that eventually claimed his life.

The gist is that after Aiyedatiwa won the testy April 20, 2024, APC primaries to become the party’s candidate, the animosity has persisted.

It has remained at such a level that, despite being from the same political party, the two camps distrust each other and remain at odds. The Aiyedatiwa camp is uneasy about the likely blowback of the situation on his chances of securing a win in the November 16 Ondo guber election.

One of the most telling indicators of the situation between Aiyedatiwa and the supporters of Akeredolu, who are still loyal to his widow, is a recent statement by Olabode Richard Akintunde, the former Chief Press Secretary to the late Governor Akeredolu.

Richard Akintunde, who speaks for the immediate Akeredolu family—and the political structure loyal to his widow—tagged a recent statement attributed to Aiyedatiwa’s Commissioner for Agriculture in Ondo State, Mr. Olayato Aribo, as “wicked and mischievous” and “a deliberate attempt to soil” the name of Akeredolu.

“A deliberate attempt to soil the name of a man whose impeccable service to the state was borne out of passion and courage,” the former Chief Press Secretary declared, while correcting claims that Aribo had alleged “Akeredolu sold government tractors to private companies and individuals at subsidized rates.”

Despite confirming that Aribo “called the former Senior Special Assistant to the late Governor Akeredolu on Agriculture and Agric Business, Pastor Akin Olotu, and denied the story,” Richard Akintunde, who dutifully corrected the alleged misrepresentations, spared no words in painting the development as calculated mischief—a move that highlights the level of distrust between the two camps.