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Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has disowned Yoruba nation agitators who claimed to have had his support for a rally held in Akure, the Ondo State capital, at the weekend. Akeredolu, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Richard Olatunde, in Akure, said that the agitators were on their own.
The governor said that he would never support the “secessionist agenda and or balkanisation of the nation. The statement read in part:
“Governor Akeredolu wishes to state clearly that while he acknowledges the right of individuals and groups to hold peaceful rallies, it must not be misconstrued to mean support for secessionist agenda and or balkanisation of the nation.”
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“Unequivocally, the governor’s opinion on the Akure rally or any other of its ilk, is only to the effect that he is not opposed to any civil protest which is not in breach of the extant laws of the Nation.
“He neither believes nor supports the quest for the Yoruba nation outside of Nigeria in the manner canvassed.
“Governor Akeredolu stands by a virile, united, and indivisible Nigeria as demanded by the Southern Governors’ Forum.
“Therefore, the vigour, zeal, leadership and candour displayed by Governor Akeredolu for a just and fair Nigeria is altruistic, and borne out of patriotism for the nation as well as love for his people, the Yoruba ethnic nationality.
“It is important, therefore, to state without any equivocation that the Yoruba nation secessionist promoters do not enjoy any lending hand in Governor Akeredolu.
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