The deputy governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, says the attempt to impeach him by the state House of Assembly was political.

The deputy governor said impeachment is part of politics, saying he survived it.

Aiyedatiwa said this during a meeting with President Bola Tinubu, the representatives of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, federal and state lawmakers in Ondo State, officials of the state’s chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and other stakeholders in the state at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday night.

The state lawmakers had moved to impeach the deputy governor, leading to various interest groups taking sides for and against the move.

The Assembly served Aiyedatiwa an impeachment notice over allegations of gross misconduct levelled against him.

Speaking on Friday, Aiyedatiwa, who declared his decision to maintain the status quo and unite all the factions after the meeting, said: “I want to say that I pledge to all of you that I embrace every one of you. I put behind all that has happened before now. I’ve let go and also let God, just as the President has advised us.⁣

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“And I want to say that with no offence, no guile in my mind whatsoever. All that has happened is politics. Impeachment is part of politics. If you survive it, it is also politics. It has come. I’ve survived it, and every other thing is in the past. ⁣

“It is one big family and our father has intervened to bring all the children together to remain under the same family and with the position that I occupy, I will carry every one of you along in every decision that needs to be taken and in everything that we do, we will work together; the executive and the legislature will work together to ensure that governance is on the right track.”

He further pleaded with all members of the State Executive Council to rally around Akeredolu and himself to “bring the dividend of democracy” to the people of Ondo State. ⁣

The deputy governor added: “All the Executive Council members, I want to plead with all of you to cooperate with me, with the governor, so that we can bring the dividend of democracy to our people.⁣

“We should respect one another regarding the offices we occupy and our age differences. So, it’s going to be mutual respect. ⁣

“And I want to assure the party structure that we will work together because the party is supreme. We will always give you your due respect.”

On his part, President Tinubu advised all opposing parties to bury the hatchet and embrace peace, eliciting commitments to this effect.

The Star