A member of the House of Representatives, Biola Makinde, representing Ondo West/Ondo East Federal Constituency, has berated his colleagues on the letter written to President Bola Tinubu over the purported anti-party activities of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
Makinde, who stated that the caucus members from the state goofed, urged the federal lawmakers to avoid heating up the polity as well as escalating the political tension, advising them against fabricating lies against Aiyedatiwa.
On Friday, lawmakers Adesida Abiodun (Akure North/South), Timehin Adelegbe (Owo/Ose), Festus Ayodele (Ileoluji-Okeigbo/Odigbo), Odimayo John (Okitipupa/Irele), and Adegboyega Adefarati (Akoko South West/South East), in an open letter addressed to Tinubu, alleged that Aiyedatiwa had been disrespecting the late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
According to the lawmakers, Aiyedatiwa had been forming alliances with the political adversaries of their late leader by sacking Akeredolu’s loyalists and appointing those perceived to be his enemies.
The lawmakers also stated that the sacking of the state cabinet and caretaker committees at the local councils was in clear breach of the agreement reached with Tinubu before Akeredolu’s demise..
Calling on the President to wade into the issue, the lawmakers warned that the All Progressives Congress, APC, might lose ground to the opposition political parties if the situation persists ahead of the forthcoming governorship polls.
Makinde, who slammed his colleagues for the action, stated that the legislators were only concerned about their possibility of returning to the National Assembly in 2027, citing the increasing popularity of Aiyedatiwa in the state following Akeredolu’s passing.
The lawmaker insisted that the legislators were intent on disturbing the peace in the state, characterising the contents of their letter as a deliberate attempt to gain unfair advantage through falsehood, noting that the lawmakers were inactive during the political turmoil that nearly destabilised the state last year.
“I want history to be kind to me, hence the need to clarify issues. With due respect to my colleagues, I think this letter has revealed those who intend to create a crisis in the party rather than avert it.
“Lawmakers who are leaders in their own constituencies suddenly waking up to protect the late former Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, whom they abandoned when he was alive, is self-defeating,” he said.
