South West governors, including Babajide Sanwo-olu (Lagos), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun) and Biodun Oyebanji (Ekiti) were, yesterday, received by their Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde, to visit their Ondo State colleague, Rotimi Akeredolu, who has been recuperating in Ibadan since his return from his three months medical trip to Germany .
    
This is just as the Ondo State Deputy Governor, Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has countered the latest offensive against him by the Ondo State House of Assembly by asking the Chief Judge (CJ) of the state, Justice Olusola Odusola, to ignore the request of the state Assembly to constitute a seven-man panel of investigators to probe allegations of gross misconduct .
  
The governors, who arrived separately at the Oyo State Government Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan were received by their host in his private office. Sanwo-Olu, who arrived last in a chartered helicopter, later joined his counterparts.
    
It was gathered that the governors were in the state to visit Akeredolu in his private residence in Ibadan.The visit was to check on Akeredolu, who since his return to Nigeria from his three-month medical leave in Germany on September 7, has been in his Ibadan residence.
 
The brief check on Akeredolu at his private residence was kept away from journalists, with the visiting governors exiting Ibadan not long afterwards.
   
The governor’s stay in the Oyo State capital has since elicited reactions with many people of Ondo State calling for his return to the Sunshine State.
   
Akeredolu is the chairman of South West Governors’ Forum. The visit to him came amid rumoured incapacitation of the governor and his continued absence from the state.
    
In a statement issued by Richard Olatunde, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Akeredolu expressed his gratitude to the governors for their unwavering solidarity.
    
According to him, Akeredolu emphasised the importance of continuous collaboration and cooperation among the South-West states to address common challenges and pursue shared goals.
   
 He added that the meeting served as a platform for the governors to discuss pertinent regional issues and forge stronger ties among their respective states.
   
The statement reads: “Chairman of the Southwest Governors’ Forum and Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, CON, on Tuesday, October 24, 2023, met with governors from the region to discuss issues of interest.
   
“Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, said the Forum is praying for Governor Akeredolu, adding that he has the support of all the governors in the region.”

MEANWHILE, the deputy governor, in a letter through his lead counsel, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), submitted to the Chief Judge (CJ) in Akure on October 24, insisted that the orders of Federal High Court, Abuja barring the House of Assembly from taking further steps on the matter is in still force.
    
The Assembly had written a letter to the CJ on October 23, asking him to constitute a seven-man panel to probe the deputy governor, claiming that the orders of injunction granted by the Federal High Court had expired.
   
But Aiyedatiwa argued that the position of the Assembly was based on conjectures, misconceptions, inconsistencies, undue desperation, and misconstruction of the law.
   
He argued that the orders granted by the Federal High Court, Abuja on September 26 are still in force and they remain valid and subsisting, contrary to the conclusion of the Assembly that the said orders had expired by operation of law . 
   
The deputy governor argued that the Court in Abuja has been given wide discretion to determine the nature, status, and duration of any order granted and in this case, the court directed that the orders granted on September 26, 2023 should last till the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction, which is still pending before the court.
   
 He stated in his letter that based on the two proceedings of the Federal High Court, Abuja of  October 9 and 16, the court has not set aside the pending orders and the order cannot be extinguished by the application to set it aside since it was combined with the hearing of the substantive suit. 
   
Aiyedatiwa drew the attention of the Chief Judge to the inconsistent action of the Assembly, which on one hand is claiming that the orders have expired whilst, on the other hand, it is pursuing an appeal against the said orders. 
   
The deputy governor referred the Chief Judge to the Motion on Notice filed by the Assembly at the Court of Appeal, Abuja on October 20, 2023 where it stated that the orders granted by the Federal High Court are still valid and subsisting because they are tied to the hearing and determination of the Deputy Governor’s motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.