Doyin Odebowale, an aide to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo, has attributed the continued stay of his boss in Ibadan to accommodation problems. 

Mr Odebowale, who spoke on Channels Television on Tuesday, said the governor needed a better apartment to carry out some of his official duties due to his ill health.

“Aketi (Akeredolu) came back in September. Where he used to stay – the presidential lodge unit built for visiting president at the time of Olusegun Obasanjo is a two-bedroom apartment,” said Mr Adebola

“Now, he is back. He cannot occupy that place again. The old governor’s office – the governor’s lodge built by the previous administration is now the office of the investment outlet called the ODIPA…” he added.

On September 7, Mr Akeredolu returned to Nigeria from Germany after a three-month medical vacation over an undisclosed ailment. Since his return, he has been staying at his private residence in Ibadan, raising concerns about his whereabouts and fitness to continue in office. 

However, Mr Odebowale disclosed that Mr Akeredolu had been managing a bungalow in the government house for six years of his emergence as the state governor. 

“So, the governor has been managing a two-bedroom apartment for six years, but his current state of health would not permit him to pretend that all is well. 

“He would need all the things for him to recover properly. That’s why the new place that is being arranged for him is almost completed,” the aide added. 

He wondered why Mr Akeredolu’s critics had demanded his principal’s whereabouts and wanted him back in the state. 

The governor’s aide maintained that the governance has not been impeded in the state despite claims by the opposition parties and the absence of the governor himself. 

“When they say they want to see Aketi, do they want to see him at the site so that he would be carrying cement or following workmen…” he queried. 

On Monday, the youth wing of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), during a protest, gave Mr Akeredolu a three-day ultimatum to either address the people of the state or tender his resignation.