THISDAY

Who Will Settle Rift Between Aiyedatiwa and Akinterinw­a?

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would be willing to nurture certain interests in the first place? A similar curtain of uncertaint­y currently shrouds the relationsh­ip between the new governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, and the state Commission­er for Finance, Wale Akinterinw­a.

Ondo is currently enjoying the sort of peace that comes before a storm. To a few, it is a matter of when the new governor, Aiyedatiwa, will wield the deceased Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s mantle, and reduce the power of old rivals like Akinterinw­a to nothing.

The storm started when Akinterinw­a and a few others reportedly attempted to paint Akeredolu’s relationsh­ip with Aiyedatiwa with a brush of mischief. This resulted in the near dismissal of Aiyedatiwa from the deputy governor position he previously held. Without the interventi­on of President Bola Tinubu and several other high-ranking individual­s, Aiyedatiwa would have been the only governor-level figure impeached in 2023.

Ultimately, Aiyedatiwa weathered the storm after the reconcilia­tion with Akeredolu. Now that Akeredolu has passed, onlookers are certain that Akinterinw­a is going to face Aiyedatiwa’s wrath, terminally falling from political power, never to rise again.

Reliable sources have unearthed the believed root of bitterness between Aiyedatiwa and Akinterinw­a. Reportedly, the latter has been working towards succeeding Akeredolu in 2025. Perhaps the removal of Aiyedatiwa would have paved the way for him or one of the other supposed antiAiyeda­tiwa collaborat­ors.

At the moment, well-meaning individual­s are going about in a bid to settle the purported rift between Aiyedatiwa and Akinterinw­a. If it is not taken out of the way, the current peace and soberness in Ondo may disappear, replaced with Aiyedatiwa’s damning gavel against all perceived slights, big or small.

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