Mixed reactions have continued to trail the allegation that some government officials have been forging the signature of the ailing Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu to carry out activities in his continuous absence.
An Abuja-based lawyer, Kayode Ajulo (SAN) had alleged that some commissioners in the administration of the state were forging the signature of Akeredolu.
Speaking on Arise TV on Monday, Ajulo said he noticed some differences between the recent approvals and those made by the governor when he was healthy.
“As a lawyer, I have good authority on this.
About five commissioners sent memos to the governor, and all of them returned with approval.
“It has been made clear by the police and Administration of Justice Act that private investigators have been contacted due to the matter, and their findings are extremely damaging. The EFCC in fact needs to go to Ondo State in order to make some inquiries. The governor did not sign the alleged document. It’s really obvious,” he added.
He said: “As it is, governance not even good governance has taken flight in Ondo State and because of that illegality is reigning in the state, nobody knows what is happening. Recently, there were some memos, which were purportedly approved by the governor, that is the same governor that we are looking for, one of them was sent to my office and we ran a check, a private investigator had checked all the documents and found out that everything was forged.
“The accusing finger is pointed at one or two people, it is so unfortunate and I think this is one of the most enlightened state, educated people and we pray that what happened sometimes ago should not happen in the state. What is happening in the state is more than graveyard peace.
Ajulo also called on President Bola Tinubu, who had reportedly directed that the state house of assembly should maintain status quo, to “Allow the constitution to take its course, to allow our laws to be, instead of this political satanic permutations to allow this to fester.”
But in a swift reaction, the State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mrs Bamidele Olateju-Ademola, said the purported documents bearing the signatures of the governor were completely fake.
She said that no one was forging the signatures of the governor, noting that she still took some files to the governor a fortnight ago and it was returned within a week, stressing that “Nobody is forging the governor’s signature.”
But an Ondo-born human rights lawyer, Allen Sowore, has described the alleged forgery of ailing Governor Akeredolu’s signatures on some government documents as a criminal act.
Sowore, in a press statement released to journalists in Akure, said the alleged forgery should be of concern to all stakeholders in the state, noting that “forgery” constituted a crime punishable under the law.