• Carpets Ondo APC chairman over role
• Says gov goofed in dissolving exco

A representative of Ondo State on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Otito Atikase, yesterday, faulted Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa over the stakeholders’ meeting of the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) held at his instance.

Atikase, who described the stakeholders’ meeting as factional, said that it ought to have been called by the chairman of the party in the state, Ade Adetimehin, and not Aiyedatiwa, who is also an aspirant.

The former lawmaker, who spoke with newsmen in Akure, the state capital, maintained that as the party’s chairman, Adetimehin ought not to have been involved in the meeting for the sake of neutrality.

According to him, the development is capable of further polarising the existing divisions within the party.Atikase, while vowing to support any candidate that emerges at the primaries, expressed confidence in the party’s final decision, stressing that the decision will be binding on all members.

He said that Aiyedatiwa should have waited until after the primary election before the dissolution of the State Executive Council (SEC).

Besides, he stated that the abandoned Ugbo-Owoye Road and Agadagba-Obon Bridge were part of his top priorities, as he had already started taking proactive steps towards actualising abandoned projects in the Niger Delta area of the state.

The NDDC commissioner said the situation whereby contractors take mobilisation fees on contracts and go away with such money would no longer be tolerated, adding that his team had concluded plans on the necessary steps to be taken to avert such decisions.