Aiyedatiwa Nominates Former NASS Clerk From Akeredolu’s Zone As Deputy

Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has announced the selection of Olayide Owolabi Adelami for the position of Deputy Governor.

Adelami, who hails from Owo, the hometown of the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, is a former Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly.

Earlier Wednesday, the governor sacked all commissioners, senior special assistants (SSAs) and special assistants (SAs) appointed by Akeredolu and directed them to immediately hand over to the Permanent Secretaries or the most senior administrative officers in their respective offices.

Aiyedatiwa, 59, formerly Ondo deputy governor, was sworn in as the substantive governor of the South-West state on December 27, 2023, following the death of Akeredolu.

The former deputy governor survived an impeachment plot by some Akeredolu’s allies in the Ondo State House of Assembly when the ex-governor was ill.

There are three senatorial districts in the state and the politics of rotation of power also operates locally. While the new governor, from the Ilaje Local Government Area, is from Ondo South, the late governor was from the Owo Local Government Area in Ondo North.

Many had thought the new governor would pick his deputy from Ondo Central but Aiyedatiwa, Aiyedatiwa, a former commissioner of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), settled for Akeredolu’s kinsman in Owo, from Ondo North.