By Kolawole Ojebisi
The frosty relationship between Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu and his estranged deputy, Hon. Agboola Ajayi has dominated the headlines than the October gubernatorial election in the state.
According to political insiders in the state, the relationship between the governor and his deputy was a rosy one throughout their campaign and immediately after their inauguration in 2016.
On inauguration morning in the state capital, Akure, the relationship was a textbook example of complementarity as many see the coming together of Akeredolu, a technocrat and Ajayi, a grassroot politician as a perfect match for the state’s leadership.
It was gathered that there was no discernible rift between the duo in the first two years of the administration.
The rift reportedly started when the governor out of political naivety entrusted the political running of the state into the hands of his deputy, while he took charge of the administrative duties of his administration.
It was learnt that Ajayi who is a seasoned politician, exploited the latitude given to him by his boss to strengthen his political clout in preparation for 2021 election.
A political analyst who understands the political intricacies of the state said Aketi (as the governor is popularly hailed) was a political neophyte during the first two years of his administration and that informed the carelessness he exhibited by giving the political whip hand to his deputy.
He said, “The Governor was politically too careless and he over trusted his Deputy from the beginning. Ajayi knew he would run against the governor. The move took away friends of the party from the south. That was why he picked most local government chairmen and House of Assembly members.”
He said what ‘exposed’ the deputy governor’s plot was when the governor became sick and he made a desperate move to make himself the acting governor by mounting pressure on members of the state House of Assembly to activate a section of law that could make his desire possible.
The move reportedly infuriated the governor which made him rush back to the state after five weeks of being absent and that was what completely drove a wedge into their relationship.
It was gathered that once the plot was uncovered, the governor has always been on his guard and he has been deliberately keeping Ajayi out of the loop in the affairs of the state. This explains his perpetual absence at the state executive meeting.
But the governor’s move was seemingly late as Ajayi from all indications has won many powerful members of the party to his side.
The fact that the Governor has failed in his move to impeach Ajayi from office is a further testament to the political strength of the Deputy Governor, making him to become a torn in the flesh of Akeredolu.
The governor has continued to struggle in his efforts to secure the needed two-third majority of the Assembly for the impeachment of Ajayi despite an alleged mouthwatering N10 million promise for each of the lawmakers to push for the move.
Only nine members of the Assembly were said to be in the camp of the governor instead of the needed 18 out of the 26 lawmakers.
The feud between Akeredolu and his deputy reached its crescendo on May 21, 2020, when Ajayi was prevented by the Commissioner of Police, Bolaji Salami from leaving the Government House allegedly on the orders of the governor.
Shortly after the development, Ajayi quit the APC and pitched his tent with the PDP.
After his defection from the APC, the Deputy Governor revealed he would not be resigning from office, stressing that the people who gave him the mandate did not ask him to resign as a Deputy Governor.
In the wake of his defection from the APC to PDP, the deputy governor was said to have perfected plans that would see party members follow suit and decamped to the PDP in what he described as “tsunmai-like defection from the APC.”
Following the development, seven aides of the Deputy Governor were sacked by Governor Akeredolu with Ajayi reinstating them as his aides hours later.
With the move, Ajayi who had obtained the PDP nomination form will likely be facing his boss during the October 10, 2020, governorship polls.
However, the current edginess in the sunshine state is an episode that brings to the fore the reminiscence of the state’s political history.
The last time, about four decades ago, when there was a rift between a governor and his deputy in the state it escalated and became a war that claimed lives and property.
