In response to the event of Akeredolu’s death, the Nigerian human rights activist and founder of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, yesterday alleged Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, the wife of the late Ondo State governor, his son, and the political cabal of the state to have been using the vulnerable condition of the Governor to steal from the coffers of the state.
By Samuel Odunayo Afolabi the Poet
The statement which was made by Sowore on Thursday evening during his interview with Arise News was an allegation against those whom he believed had exploited the late Governor’s predicament.
While commenting, he expressed dismay at the confusion being peddled over the exact location of Akeredolu’s death, “This substantive governor visiting the home of late Governor Akeredolu today…you’d see the mien of the wife and the contempt in the way she was looking at this governor who had just come to visit. You will know that it was all manipulative that she’s acting all sad now.
“Some three days ago, the wife of the Governor was in Ondo State, insulting everybody that they’re ‘bush people’. A week ago, he met with some members of the House of Assembly, and now we are finding out that Akeredolu didn’t die in Germany”.
The activist went on to allege the peddlers as having some skeleton in their cupboards, and he suggested that they had perhaps been using this to extort the state.
“So, they’re all lying to the public that he died in Germany. Maybe they wanted to use that to take some more money out of the state. I don’t get it. Everything is a lie.
“Now we might have to demand to see Akeredolu’s body physically, to be sure that he hasn’t died a long time ago, and buried before they came out to announce it. Because basically what these people did – the wife, the son, and the political cabal in Ondo state – was just use his vulnerable condition to take out their greed on the state (5 million people). They’re just taking out money, forging signatures. That’s why I said that, if this was a saner society, people would be properly investigated and indicted for the criminal act they perpetrated using a vulnerable man”.
With regards to the praiseworthy qualities of Aketi’s character when he was alive, he empathetically regretted that such circumstances would be his case,
“This should not have happened to Akeredolu at all. That they could do this to their family, you can understand why they are so mean towards the people of Ondo State. People will say, ‘well this is not the time to say it’, but we had to say this during Yar’Adua’s time. Unfortunately, we didn’t learn from it. That’s why this happened. Because had the law been properly done at that time during the Yar’Adua saga, we would not have had to go through this. This is a shame. It is a shame that now we are finding out tonight that he (Akeredolu) died in his house”.
Sowore also called the wife of the late Governor and others out for the manipulation of the media, which is a ploy at exploiting the government and people of Ondo State, using his sickness before the elderly political leader’s eventual death. Pouring out his heart, he revealed his surprise, “As of yesterday they said he died in Lagos; the family…because I saw a statement issued by the family today, signed by one Akeredolu junior, saying he died in Germany. They even passed on some information yesterday to the media that he died somewhere in near Hannover in Germany.
“So they are still manipulating, as we speak. But I knew as of yesterday that something is fishy because when President Tinubu issued his own statement, he never mentioned where he died. Lagos State never mentioned where he died.
“It is unusual that they all did not want to talk about where he died. I have a feeling , and I might be wrong, that this man probably died a long time ago before now, and they just kept him wrapped up somewhere in a cooler“.
The interview which featured Omoyele Sowore yesterday was supposed to be a commemoration of Akeredolu’s legacy.
