Governor of Ondo State, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu SAN, has disowned a statement in circulation on social media which suggested that he rubbished Vice President Yemi Osinbajo following his recent visit to the state.
According to a disclaimer signed by Akeredolu’s Senior Special Assistant on Special Duties and Strategy, Dr. Doyin Odebowale, on Tuesday, the governor’s comments were allegedly twisted and presented as a snide remark to cast aspersion on the suitability of the Presidential Aspirant (Osinbajo) ahead of the forthcoming presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress.
The said statement credited to the governor read, “When we were running around to ensure Buhari won the primaries in 2014, I sprained my ankle. My VP, Sir, you were not around. You were at the Holy Ghost night that day. You just moved from Holy Ghost Night to Aso Rock”.
Debunking the statement quoted above, Odebowale stated, “Putting what transpired during the visit of the VP, within the context of the convivial atmosphere, exposes the mischief in the deliberate slant put to the statement published to satisfy the partisan interest. The Governor of Ondo State is not only the Chairman of the South West Governors’ Forum, his colleagues in the whole of Southern Region defer to him as their spokesperson, mainly because of his principled stance on important issues affecting the country.”
“Aketi’s position on succession pattern in the current politics is public knowledge. While he is not the one to hide behind a finger in taking a decision and making same known without equivocation, he will not be as brash as the statement purports. A situation which would have warranted the Governor to engage in a needless diatribe against a most respected professional colleague, friend and the number 2 citizen in the country would have been most unwarranted, uncharitable and disrespectful.”
Odebowale also stated that Governor Akeredolu respects and holds the nation’s second citizen in high esteem and would never resort to unwholesome means to cast aspersion on the person of the Vice-President.