The Acting Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has been sworn in as the governor of the Sunshine State.
The swearing-in was held at the Cocoa Conference Hall in the governor’s office in Akure, the state capital and was administered by the chief judge, Justice Olusegun Odusola on Wednesday.
“It is with a heavy heart that I accept this honorous responsibility of taking over the reins of governance and affairs of our state after the unfortunate loss and passing of our beloved governor and leader and my dear principal Arakurin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu,” Aiyedatiwa said in his opening remarks as the number one citizen of the state,
“Today’s event has placed a burden on all of us to stay together as one because we have to onerous responsibility to continue to sustain the legacies of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, which was good governance.
“We now have the responsibility to complete them. It is necessary for us to acknowledge with pride, the wonderful achievements and legacies of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu SAN, CON.”
Aiyedatiwa assured the indigenes of the state of continued progress as well as making their welfare his topmost priority.
“Our leader and governor embarked upon several landmark projects many of which have been completed and several others ongoing.”
“His records of performance are monumental and unprecedented. I want to assure the people of Ondo State that under my watch, this administration shall continue to advance the welfare of the people. We shall always place the people first in every decision we take.”
Present to witness the swearing-in are other judges and top government officials, including the secretary to the state government and members of the state cabinet, the state All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman and members of the state house of assembly.
His inauguration followed the death of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu earlier on Wednesday.
Aiyedatiwa’s walk to becoming the governor of Ondo State was a long one that lasted one year since Akeredolu suffered health challenges before he eventually succumbed to the claws of death on Wednesday in faraway Germany where he was being treated for prostate cancer.
Aiyedatiwa survived an impeachment plot by Akeredolu’s allies in the Ondo State House of Assembly and stark opposition by his late principal’s foot soldiers.
Controversy enveloped the politics of the state in the last few months with activists and constitutional lawyers calling on Akeredolu to transmit power to Aiyedatiwa in line with the 1999 Constitution.
Akeredolu was in and out of hospitals abroad before he breathed his last on December 27, 2023.
Eventually, Akeredolu, a second-term governor before his death, transmitted power to Aiyedatiwa on December 13, 2023, as he embarked on a fresh medical trip overseas, the second in 2023.
Akeredolu, 67, could not make it back to Nigeria as he died of complications arising from prostate cancer.
