Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the Governor of Ondo State, has revealed that President Bola Tinubu stepped in to halt moves to impeach him while he served as deputy governor in 2023.
Speaking during a media chat with selected journalists on Friday, Aiyedatiwa expressed gratitude to Tinubu for intervening and preventing the impeachment.
The governor also stated that the late former governor of the state, Rotimi Akeredolu, had on several occasions openly endorsed him as his preferred successor.
According to Aiyedatiwa, when Akeredolu became seriously ill, some individuals attempted to exploit the situation by pushing for his impeachment.
“Those who were in the cabinet at the time knew for a fact that my late principal (Akeredolu) endorsed me on the day of our inauguration on February 24, 2021, when he made an open declaration which is still documented till today,” he said.
“While he was interpreting my name, he said I was going to move on from deputy governor.
“If you are going to move on from deputy governor, you won’t go back to commissioner. You are going to move to become a governor. That is the import of that statement.
“Sometimes, during our executive council meetings, when he was fed up with some things, he would say, ‘I cannot finish all of these things, when Lucky comes, he will complete it’.
“He had also made it known to every exco member that this is the anointed candidate. Some people don’t want that to happen. As I have said, in politics, it is all about interest. Some other persons were eyeing that office.
“When they heard that the governor was ill, there were all kinds of voices. There was division. That was when the party was divided.
“Not even 25. The entire 26 assembly members signed for my impeachment. All of them. But I survived it. To cut the story short, I survived it eventually with the intervention of Mr President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“I want to use this opportunity to thank him for being a good leader to our country. He intervened at that time, and we were able to put the house in order.”
Aiyedatiwa was the deputy governor of Ondo during the administration of the late Akeredolu.
In September 2023, the Ondo assembly served an impeachment notice on Aiyedatiwa over an allegation of gross misconduct.
He was sworn in as the governor after the death of Akeredolu to complete the tenure of his principal.
Aiyedatiwa was later elected governor in 2024.