Aiyedatiwa Meets Tinubu, Pledges To Move Ondo Forward
The newly sworn-in Governor of the Ondo State, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, on Thursday, promised to mobilise all stakeholders in his domain to “move the state forward.”
Aiyedatiwa expressed plans to “pull everybody to work together and see how we can move the state forward,” when he visited President Bola Tinubu in Lagos late Thursday night.
His comments came barely 24 hours after he took the oath of office following the demise of the former Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu.
Aiyedatiwa said he received “advice and encouragement” from the President to “take charge and mobilise everybody,” in his state to continue with the business of governance.
1On Wednesday, the Ondo State Government announced the death of Akeredolu after a long battle with prostate cancer.
His demise is the first for a sitting Ondo Governor and the fourth in the nation’s recent history.
Others who died in office are Shehu Kangiwa of Sokoto (1981), Mamman Ali of Yobe (2009) and Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna (2012).
Aiyedatiwa explained that he visited the President to “further brief him on the events that happened in our state; the loss of our governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, and to also let him know that I have just been sworn in, because there can never be a vacuum, as the governor of Ondo State, being his former deputy.”
He said the closed-door meeting also saw him “thank President Tinubu for standing by us during the critical moment in our state. It’s no longer news what happened in the last six months in Ondo State that was in the news.”
“Ondo State was practically in the news almost every day in the last six months, but all that has been put to rest now, and he stood by us as the President of the country.
“So I’m here to just thank him for being a father figure to the state, all his advice and the development right now and what we are looking forward to do in the days ahead,” he added.