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Governors Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (Ondo State) and Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti State) have explained their absence at Sunday’s meeting of the All Progressives Congress Southwest Leaders’ meeting held in Lagos State.
Governor Akeredolu who said he supported the resolutions reached at the meeting attributed his absence to lack of timely communication.
Akeredolu spoke in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Richard Olatunde.
He described the parley as ‘commendable and timely.
According to the statement, “Governor Akeredolu would have loved to be present at the meeting for several reasons. Far more important, the issues distilled bordered on the Southern Governors’ Asaba Declaration. However, a slight mix-up and communication gap had caused his unintended absence even as an earlier engagement had been fixed for Ibadan weeks before the meeting.
“Nonetheless, the resolutions reached by the revered leaders at the Lagos meeting are quite commendable and timely; the issues discussed are germane, and are clear indications that men of goodwill are working together to solve the Nation’s current challenges.
“As one of the leaders of the APC in the Southwest, and more so that, he presided over the Asaba meeting of the Southern Governors, nothing could be more spirit-lifting than the outcome of the Lagos meeting on Sunday. He, therefore, endorses all the resolutions reached by the leaders who attended the meeting.”
In a simililar reaction, the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said his absence was a result of a mix up in the invitation sent out for the meeting.
Fayemi’s reaction was containted in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode.
Fayemi claimed that the invitation for the meeting which was said to have been sent via Whatsapp by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s aide, Tunde Rahman, never got to him.
The statement reads in part, “Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, wholeheartedly supports the stance of the All Progressives Party (APC) Southwest leaders at their meeting that took place in Lagos on Sunday, May 23rd, 2021 despite his absence at the meeting.
“Dr. Fayemi’s absence at the meeting was a result of a mix up in the invitation sent out for the meeting.
“For clarity, the invitation for the meeting which was said to have been sent via Whatsapp by Mr. Tunde Rahman, an aide to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu never got to Governor Fayemi.
“The absence of an invitation for the Southwest APC leaders meeting prevented the Governor from attending the meeting, as he was not aware.
“Governor Fayemi however sent an apology to the meeting through former Ekiti State Governor and Minister of Industries, Trade and Investments, Otunba Niyi Adebayo; as he was already scheduled to attend another engagement at the time he came to learn of the meeting.
“Governor Fayemi, as a true democrat and Southwest leader who is committed to the welfare of the people, is however in total support of the decisions reached by the Southwest leaders at the meeting which include an endorsement of the positions earlier adopted by the Southern Governors’ Forum on the ban on open grazing and the need for true federalism, among others,” the statement added.