By Dayo Johnson, AKURE
Ondo State government, yesterday, described a report credited to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, on the health of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu as wicked, mischievous and insensitive.
A national newspaper (not Vanguard) quoted the APC chairman to have said that Akeredolu was incapacitated and hospitalised abroad.
Adamu was reported to have made the remarks at a meeting between the national leadership of the party and APC state chairmen in Abuja on Monday.
It will be recalled that Akeredolu, on Monday, wrote to Ondo State House of Assembly, requesting an extension of his medical leave.
This came as the acting governor, Mr Lucky Ayedatiwa, has said that the governor is in “high spirit, recuperating and expected back in the office to continue with his laudable service to the state, as soon as he is certified medically fit by his doctors.”
Akeredolu not incapacitated —Ondo govt
Reacting to the media report credited to the APC chairman, the Information and Orientation Commissioner in Ondo State, Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, said that the chairman was quoted out of context.
Ademola-Olateju, in the statement, explained that at no time did the Chairman mention that the Governor was in a state of “extreme incapacity.”
The statement reads: “The attention of the Ondo State government has been drawn to a report, credited to the Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.
“The headline, ‘Akeredolu in state of extreme incapacity, hospitalised’, bore a tinge of the usual mischievous, wicked and insensitive reportage, sponsored by desperate politicians.
“The Chairman of the APC in Ondo State, Ade Adetimehin, who attended the meeting has debunked the report as untrue and disconnected from the statement of the Chairman at the event.
“The National Chairman was indeed excited at the reports on the rate of recovery of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, and urged all those present at the meeting to pray for his quick return.
“It, therefore, smacks of mischief and unabashed abandonment of professional ethics for a reporter to present this gross misrepresentation, a mischievous twist, as news.
“At no time did the Chairman mention that the Governor was in a state of “extreme incapacity.”
Adamu’s genuine prayer sensationalised—S-West APC
Also speaking, the National Vice-Chairman of the APC, Mr Isaac Kekemeke, said that Adamu’s genuine prayer for Akeredolu’s recovery was unnecessarily sensationalised.
Kekemeke, who said he was at the meeting where the national chairman of the party was quoted to have said that Governor Akeredolu is in a state of extreme incapacity, said the media report was false.
Setting the records straight, Kekemeke, in a statement, said: “It is sad that a genuine empathy and prayer by the National Chairman for a Governor on the platform of his party was sensationalised and has now become a subject of discourse.
“Governor Akeredolu’s name came up at the meeting when the National Chairman was expressing his sympathy with the State chairmen of the party on the abduction/kidnap of their colleague, the Ekiti state APC Chairman.
“He merely extended his solidarity to the people of Ondo state on the foreign medical trip of the Governor and prayed for his quick recovery and recuperation.
“I have chosen to put the records straight because I was at the meeting and more so that both our party’s National Publicity Secretary and his Deputy were not at the meeting.
“The National Chairman did not and could not have made such comments like Akeredolu in a state of extreme incapacity, but he only genuinely prayed for the governor’s quick recovery.”
There won’t be a gap in governance —Acting gov
Meanwhile, the Acting Governor, Mr. Lucky Ayedatiwa, has assured the people of Ondo State and Nigerians that there won’t be a gap in governance in the absence of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
Ayedatiwa, in a statement, urged Nigerians to “ignore these unfortunate lies and subterfuge as the antics of desperate political gladiators across political divides.
“Mr. Governor appreciates your prayers and good wishes for himself and the state, across the board. He is in high spirits, recuperating and is expected back in the office to continue with his laudable service to the State, as soon as he is certified medically fit by his Doctors.
“I have been in touch with him, the latest being on Sunday, July 9, 2023, when he expressed appreciation to me and other State Executive Council Members for holding fort, while he is away,” he said.
Source: Vanguard