Security agencies seal Ondo PDP secretariat, stop youth protest

•Youths give Akeredolu three days to resume

Ondo secretariat of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was, in the early hours of yesterday, barricaded by security operatives in the state to forestall planned protests by some members of the party against the continued absence of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu from the state.

The security agencies, comprising Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) arrived at the party secretariat as early as 6:00 a.m.

The secretariat was cordoned off with no fewer than 13 patrol vans and one Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) with stern-looking security operatives manning the entrance to the secretariat.

The youth wing of the party had vowed to protest the prolonged absence of the governor from the state. According to some of the youths, who were prevented from accessing the secretariat, there has been a vacuum of leadership in the state without anyone piloting its affairs

One of the youth leaders, Tayo Oluyi, said the protest was aimed at drawing attention to what they perceived as the governor’s negligence and the resultant negative impact on the state.

He said: “In the last nine months, there has been a vacuum of leadership in Ondo State. Sometimes in April, the people of the state agitated and that led us to having an acting governor.

“We were also aware of what transpired when Aiyedatiwa was acting in his stead. That isn’t even our problem because it’s an internal issue but since 32 days ago that the governor arrived from his three-month medical leave in Germany, we’ve not seen the governor anywhere near the state.

“And yet, we’ve been hearing of Akeredolu passing bills into law by proxy and this is what informed the protest by the youth wing of PDP in the state.”

Meanwhile, the intervention by the security agencies has been described as a violation of the freedom of expression of the youths.

But the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Olufumilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, said: “On Friday, we got a kind of unanimous letter, stating that some people want to protest and the letter came in without letter-head, no details of those that wanted to embark on the protest and for the safety of the party involved, we just felt to mobilise our men to maintain law and orders in case of anything.

MEANWHILE, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, yesterday, adjourned further proceedings in the case filed by Ondo State Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa to October 30, in his suit alleging arbitrary move by Governor Akeredolu to alter his rights and responsibilities through illegal means.

This was after the court took extensive arguments from counsels to the parties on the issue of service of court processes and the alleged disobedience to the subsisting order of the court made on September 26 against the impeachment of the deputy governor.

At today’s proceedings, Justice Emeka Nwite first delivered his pending ruling on arguments canvassed by the parties on the last court date on October 9, 2023, on the effect of the reconciliation committee set up by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the petition to the National Judicial Council (NJC) by Ondo state House of Assembly.

The court said it would hear all pending applications since some of the said applications involve the issue of jurisdiction of the court. The court further held that since all parties in the case do not share mutual agreement on the issue of reconciliation and settlement, it will not adjourn the case on that ground alone but will proceed to hear the case.

The court proceeded to take arguments on the status of pending applications and directed that all processes filed should be served on all the parties. The case was then adjourned to October 30 for further ruling on the applications.