A fresh power tussle has again begun in Ondo State as Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has allegedly barred his deputy, Chief Olayide Adelami, from using the official Deputy Governor’s Lodge within the Government House.
Since assuming office in February 2024, Adelami has reportedly been forced to stay in a series of rundown hotels in Akure, with government records showing over ₦130 million spent on his accommodation and that of his aides by February 2025.
Sources within the administration revealed that the move was deliberate, driven by fears of a possible political rivalry between the governor and his deputy.
“There is a fully renovated VIP lodge within the Government House, but Adelami has been denied access,” a source said.
One of the sources, Sahara Reporters quoted, alleged that the Commissioner for Finance, Omowunmi Isaac, wields considerable influence over the governor’s decisions.
“The governor only listens to the Commissioner of Finance, Omowunmi Isaac,” the source said.
“She holds so much power in his government; we don’t know what she has over him.”
Adelami’s predicament is similar to the one Aiyedatiwa experienced as deputy governor under the late Rotimi Akeredolu, when he was sidelined during a bitter political feud in 2023.
That standoff saw the state house of assembly, which was loyal to the then-governor, initiate impeachment moves, which were later intervened by President Bola Tinubu.
Even while incapacitated, the governor ran the state from outside the country, refusing to hand over power, although he eventually did so before his death in December 2023.
Adelami, a former Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly and ex-APC governorship aspirant, was nominated by Aiyedatiwa in January 2024 and sworn in the following month.