Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu has disbanded the media team of his deputy,Lucky Aiyedatiwa directing all members of the team to submit government properties in their possession to the office of the Acting Permanent Secretary of the Deputy Governor and report to their various ministries and stations.
In a statement issued by his spokesman, Richard Olatunde on Tuesday,the governor said the sack is with immediate effect.
The affected aides include Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor, Kenneth Odusola; Special Assistant to Governor (New Media) Okunniga Oladipupo; and Special Assistant to the Governor (Photography) Abayomi Samson Adefolalu
The sack of the aides came amid Aiyedatiwa ‘s renewed pledge of loyalty to his principal.
Recall that Aiyedatiwa was in charge of the State for three months while Akeredolu travelled to Germany for medical reasons.
The Deputy Governor in a statement on Tuesday by his spokesman , Kenneth Odusola Stevenson said he remains loyal to the governor and that no amount of lies would change that.
“The deputy governor remains loyal to his principal and no amount of fabricated lies will change that,”
“We need to remind the public that this is a continuation of the blackmail started by these same characters some months ago, with false stories planted in some media outlets against the deputy governor. However, since those lies did not yield the result they envisaged, the blackmailers have returned with fake stories about disloyalty, aimed at causing disaffection between him and the governor.
“These faceless individuals who have been hiding their identities because what they are putting out are pure fabrications, are being sponsored by those who are threatened by the profile of the deputy governor, his relationship with his boss, and the goodwill he enjoys with the people.”
The sack of the Ondo Deputy’s Press Crew by the governor came a few weeks after Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state sacked his deputy, Philip Shaibu’s Media team.
Shaibu had dragged Obaseki to court sensing plot to remove him from office.
Also,steps taken by leaders of the state to settle the matter did not yield the desired result. Though Shaibu withdrew the suit he filed to stop his impeachment, Obaseki threw him out of Government House citing renovation of the office.
On Monday, Some Staff of the Deputy Governor ‘s office were seen in a video packing to a new location outside the government House .
