By Banji Ayoola
Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has declared support for the senatorial ambition of his wife, Betty, in her Imo home state.
Already, the bid has sparked off controversy in the state with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, alleging that the governor is using Ondo State’s funds to sponsor the political ambition of his wife who is seeking to contest the Imo East Senatorial election next year.
But Akeredolu, who arrived Nigeria on Sunday after a 14-day vacation in Germany barely 24 hours after he was rumoured dead, on touchdown, endorsed his wife’s senatorial ambition.
Specifically, he arrived at the International wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Nigeria at exactly 10:35pm on Sunday, April 17, 2022, according to his spokesman, Richard Olatunde.
Rumour, engineered and fueled by an online report, had been making the rounds in the state that the governor, who, according to the report, had been ill, had eventually passed on in a German hospital.
However, Olatunde had dispelled the rumour in a video posted on his Facebook page showing the governor dancing and singing to prove to cynics that he is still alive.
The opposition People’s Democratic Party had on Sunday alleged that the governor was using the state’s funds to sponsor his wife’s senatorial ambition in Imo state.
In a statement he signed on his arrival, the governor declared his support for the senatorial ambition of his wife, Betty, in her Imo home state. Mrs Akeredolu is seeking to contest the Imo East Senatorial election in 2023.
In the statement titled “Public service: The greatest privilege,” Akeredolu said: “Betty, FLOOS, let me choose this great day in our lives, our 41st wedding Anniversary to notch up in print my support for your popular and known quest to serve your people in the Senate.
“The evolution of modern societies bears indelible evidence of significant inputs of few people. This trajectory records definitive impacts of those who dare to think and act differently. The consequence of this defiance finds expression in radical departure from the old order, leading to transformation. It yields quality accretions which impact positively on the people in any given space.
“The world owes those who dare a debt of gratitude for audacity, tenacity, consistency and focus. These torch bearers withstand the brunt of vilification, contempt, deprivation and even rejection. They remain undaunted until the set goal is achieved. They are rarely praised afterwards.
“Public service is taken as the highest form of participation in the affairs of a human community, state or a country. It ennobles anyone, privileged to serve, whose tenacity, focus and integrity ensure development. Only a few are truly equipped for service. They must be encouraged at all times.
“Anytime, anywhere and under whatever circumstances, those who hold views which threaten to shatter age-long widely held beliefs and/or practices are a special breed. Those whose activities have borne positive impact on the lives of the under-privileged, must be supported by all good people.
“I join all other well-wishers, admirers, supporters and stakeholders to support, openly and without any reservations or equivocation, my Adorable Betty in her bid to continue to serve the people in her State of birth, Imo.
“I do this, most enthusiastically, as a partner, admirer and active follower for over four decades. I consider myself highly privileged to have a workaholic, gender and human rights activist, humanist and philanthropist as wife, adviser, harshest critic, supporter, political associate and, above all, an unrelenting ideologue, ready to sacrifice and confront any obstacle, natural and artificial. I am of the firm belief that any group, society, community, state or country, privileged to avail itself of the quintessential service of a bold crusader, as she, is lucky indeed.
“Seeking to continue what she started long before I came into politics, when she ran for the House of Representatives, at the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, is not strange to me or anyone who has been watching the activities of this special personality. I SUPPORT HER ASPIRATION NOW, AS I HAVE ALWAYS DONE, EVEN BEFORE I JOINED POLITICS. I know her to be a passionate believer in rectitude. I believe in her mission to emancipate women from the shackles of all forms of oppression.
“I have known her as a fiercely independent personality who is never afraid to voice her dissent on any issue. I have witnessed her triumphs over adversities at close quarters. She made me appreciate more the nuanced difference between foolhardiness and courage. Many have come to accept her as a rock of refuge for the oppressed and hopeless. She has been a strong advocate for equity and justice and against unprofitable superstitions, beliefs and habits which predispose people to diseases and avoidable deaths.
“I am proud of this gift from Imo State. I support her aspiration wholeheartedly. I am convinced that the people of Imo State will enjoy quality representation from her. Her presence in the Senate promises exciting moments.
“I harbour no anxiety that my Adorable Betty, ADA OWERE, has all it takes to BEMORE. While offering her my unalloyed support, I wish her all the best in this current quest to extend and particularise the scope of service in the interest of the people.
“May the will of the Almighty be manifested and fulfilled in this endeavour, and many more, designed to uplift the downtrodden.
“May fair winds aid this sail!”
Before his husband’s public endorsement of her aspiration, the governor’s wife had slammed the PDP over the allegation that her husband is funding her senatorial aspiration in her Imo home state with Ondo State’s money.
A statement on Sunday by the Special Assistant to the Governor on New Media & Archives (Office of the First Lady), Debo Akinbami, said the allegation was false.
According to the statement, titled “Re: Akeredolu sponsors wife for Senate in Imo State – PDP suffering from acute dementia,”: “The attention of the office of Ondo State Governor’s wife, Chief Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, has been drawn to the balderdash spewed and spread by the demented spokesperson for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Kennedy Ikantu Peretei, in a veiled but vain attempt at disparaging the person and political pursuit of Mrs Akeredolu.
“The scrap, inchoate and incoherent as it reads, and typical of the attention-seeking drowner by the noun Peretei, should have ordinarily been thrown to the bin that it qualifies for, but this refutation serves to lay the facts bare to the esteemed people of Ondo State, and in so doing, help unsuspecting public from falling for the opposition’s blatant lies.
“Being part of the specious allegations conjured by the People’s Democratic Party through its sickly publicity secretary, it is alleged that the Free School Shuttle buses procured by the administration of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko were sighted in Owerri, a subtle but silly euphemism for supposing that the buses are being used in Owerri to expedite the political ambition of Mrs Akeredolu, who is from Imo State. Whereas, matter-of-factly, not a single one of the contentious shuttle buses is in any part of Owerri.
“For the records, however, Chief Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu facilitated the construction of a 10.5km road project for her immediate constituency at the cost of N1.6bn, as against the barefaced falsity of the pathological liars to the extent that the road is being constructed at the cost of 16bn. Meanwhile, the road project in question is being sponsored by NDDC, of which Imo is a stout part. It is not the first of time she would assist her constituents, particularly in private capacity and she will continue to do so without apologies to pretenders who expect her to hate her people the way they hate theirs.
“While we sympathise with the opposition who is already used to idlers as First Ladies and so finding the clout of the incumbent to contend with, it must be stressed that Mrs Akeredolu who is contesting to represent the Owerri Zone at the national assembly is an accomplished professional who having reached the peak of her career at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, retired and since been contributing to helping and healing humanity in various ways, hence she has the requisite contents, contacts and wherewithal to win election and do well as a Senator.
“It is not only deceitful and hypocritical for the downing opposition to have given the false impression that the First Lady is relying on the Ondo State exchequer to fund political ambition, it also shows the extent of certain desperate sadists to stain the immaculate standing of Mrs Akeredolu.
“However, since the ostentatious characters who inhabit the People’s Democratic Party impliedly loath their own places of birth and would irresponsibly watch it slide into comatose without help, we can only wish them ill luck in their doomed sojourn to unjustly misportray a bona fide Mrs Akeredolu.”
Earlier on Sunday, the PDP had in a statement by its spokesman in the state, Mr Ikantu Kennedy Peretei, and titled “Akeredolu’s Misrule In Ondo State (16): Sponsors Wife For Senate In Imo State,” said: “Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, wife of Ondo State Governor ranks amongst wives in the corridor of power who know exactly what to do with the enormous influence and lush funds available to their husbands.
“Addressing wives of military officers, Mrs Maryam Babangida, wife of former Nigerian Head of State who arrogated to himself title of “President”, told the women that, they were one rank higher than their husbands, even though they were civilians. She said if their husbands were Colonels, *they were* Brigadiers-General.
“The glitz and glamour Maryam brought to bear on her pet project, Better Life For Rural Women, cannot be forgotten in a hurry. She was reported to have influenced the capital of Delta State to be located in Asaba (her birthplace) which is at the Anambra fringe of the State. She proved over and over again that, she was the woman behind the throne.
“Mrs Akeredolu has also demonstrated that, she is one rank ahead of her husband. As a matter of fact, she does not mince words by saying she is three years older than her husband, who is the Governor of Ondo State.
“Last week, Betty Akeredolu officially joined the Senatorial race for Imo East under the All Progressives Congress (APC). In her address to journalists in Owerri, Mrs Akeredolu said “I am vying for the Senate of Imo East to change the narrative about Owerri Zone. Yes, l am married to the Governor of Ondo State but that shouldn’t deprive me of the right to seek to represent Imo East, which is my maiden Senatorial District. I am proud to come from Emeabiam in Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State. Our biggest challenges are roads and hospitals but l am happy that l have been able to attract a 10.5km of roads to Emeabiam at the cost of N16bn. I am grateful to the NDDC… l know my going to Senate will attract huge development for the people of Imo State”.
“Few questions immediately come to mind. Was Betty trying to brag about her status of being a Governor’s wife or trying to reconnect with her roots as being part of the Emeabiam community? Has she ever been involved in development activities or politics of Imo State before her husband became Governor? How many of such NDDC Projects has she influenced to Ondo State?
“In 2012, when Rotimi Akeredolu first contested Governorship elections in Ondo State, his biggest challenge was that, he never registered as a voter in the State. It took some re-engineering from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to relocate himself and the wife, from where they registered in Oyo State, to Owo Local Government, where they now vote. If Betty is to contest elections in Imo State, this ritual has to be repeated if not perfected already.
“Betty’s Senatorial aspiration has been clinically conceptualised immediately after Akeredolu was sworn in as Governor. The first sign was that, some of the Free School Shuttle buses bought by the Dr. Olusegun Mimiko government for easy movement of school children were sighted in Owerri. Of the over 95 buses, not more than 20 are parked at the premises of the Ministry of Works at various levels of decay. The Ondo State government has not told the people the whereabouts of the remaining buses. If the government says it has no money to run the buses, one will expect to see the buses on ground. The missing buses may have been used to oil the “back to my roots” project.
“On Friday, 29th December, 2017, the Ondo State Government literally shut down and moved to Emeabiam in honour of Mrs Betty for the title Ada Emeabiam ll. The Governor himself led the delegation. Then, on 14th August, 2021, all the monarchs in Owerri Federal Constituency, covering about 150 autonomous communities conferred on Mrs Akeredolu the title “Ada Owere” meaning the first daughter of Owerri. Betty is the first recipient of this title.
“Again, on Sunday, 26th December, 2021, the same woman was honoured with the title Nwanyiwuihe (woman is valued) by the Ihiagwa Town Management Committee during the 2021 Ihiagwa Clan Day celebration in Owerri West Local Government.
“There is none of these ceremonies that did not cost Ondo State Tax Payers huge resources that could be channeled to the welfare of the people. If you have received any such traditional title in Nigeria before, you will appreciate what is at stake here. Political appointees and traditional rulers all struggle to be seen during these ceremonies, taking selfies and smiling reminiscent of what legendary Afro beat King Fela referred to as suffering and smiling.
“Mrs Betty Akeredolu is desirous of joining the league of wives of former governors in the Nigerian Senate. The first was Senator Zainab Kure, wife of former Governor of Niger State, Engr. Abdulkadir Kure. Zainab was elected to represent Niger South Senatorial District in 2007 at the end of her husband’s second term as Governor. The other person is Senator Oluremi Tinubu, wife of APC leader Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a two term Governor of Lagos State. Senator Remi was elected to represent Lagos Central Senatorial District in 2011. She was re-elected in 2015 and 2019.
“While l wish Ada Owere the very best of luck in the 2023 Senatorial election, she must remember that, those former governors wives who contested Senatorial elections did so, where their husbands reigned as governors. Akeredolu will be unable to do anything in the Imo contest apart from squandering our lean resources to service some politicians in Imo State who will never tell Ada Owere the truth. There are speculations that Betty was encouraged to contest by *Ebere* Obiano who intends to contest Senatorial elections in Anambra State.”
