Re: Vote of confidence in Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa By Akoko Leaders

[Press Release] My name is Hon. Demola Ijabiyi. I am from Afin in Akoko North West Local Government Area of Ondo State. I am a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC). I am not just a member but also a leader and an elder of the party.

I have read the report of the meeting of Akoko leaders held on Saturday 31st May, 2025 particularly the votes of confidence passed in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa.

I was not only invited to the meeting, I was privy to the discussions and consultations that led to it. The Convener Rt. Hon. Victor Olabimtan specifically discussed the meeting with me and when I expressed reservations about it, he called to plead with me to attend. But I could not make it.

The basis of my reservations is not part of the reason for this release. My interest is in the outcome of the meeting.

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I am an ardent supporter of President Tinubu. For being the leader of my party, I might feel obliged to support him in all circumstances. But that is support based on party loyalty. However, the more compelling reason why I am supporting him is that I believe in his reforms and policies. Therefore, I will gladly and enthusiastically join anywhere in passing a vote of confidence in him.

For Governor Aiyedatiwa, I cannot be part of any vote of confidence in him. Both of us are members of the same party. That should normally compel my support for him. But as a leader and elder of the party, he is yet to earn my vote based on his performance.

Last December, I benefitted from the patronage that he extended to selected leaders in my local government. I deeply and profoundly appreciate that. But that is a personal benefit. So far, I have seen nothing substantial to sustain my originally enthusiastic support for him at the public level.

He became the Governor in December 2023 following the call to glory of his boss Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. He was elected for a second term in November 2024. All together, he has been the Governor for over seventeen months. During this period, the Governor has been running routine governance with nothing to show in terms of creativity or innovation. I do not know his programmes for the State. I do not know where he is leading us. I have no information on the State’s monthly allocations and internally generated revenues. What I do know is that all the States are now receiving a lot of money from the Federation Account and I do State is not an exception. I do not know what the Governor has been spending all the money on. There are no single legacy or monumental projects.

I am piqued by his decision to build luxurious homes for cabinet members at close to N9 bn and spend over N3.7 bn on a park. These types of priority are puzzling.

Right now, the network of roads connecting the four towns of Afin, Ese, Irun and Ogbagi that constitute my Constituency 2 in my Local Government is unmotorable. Ese, in particular is not accessible from anywhere. The schools in my home town of Afin are in a sorry state with inadequate staff and with dilapidated infrastructure. The Afin Development Association has to recruit and be paying some teachers to help out in our Ado-Ugbo Grammar School.

At the State level, the roads leading to my houses in Akure are neglected. One is the Onyearugbulem overhead bridge that leads to my house in Shagari Housing Estate. The other is the one that is off NDDC road leading to my house in Obaile Housing Estate.

I remain the provider of my own water. I heard that water might be coming from the Owena multipurpose dam but we have been on that for ages. I don’t know what is happening to Awara Dam in Ikare or when my town will ever enjoy public piped water.

Everybody has stories to tell. The grumbling in town is deafening. And as a party leader frequently confronted by members of the public on Aiyedatiwa’s performance, I have no explanation to offer.

It is against this background that I cannot be part of the vote of confidence passed on him by my fellow leaders in the four local government areas in Akoko. I therefore dissociate myself from it. He must change if he must have my confidence.

Hon. Demola Ijabiyi
1st June, 2025