Akeredolu’s Widow, Family, to Boycott Memorial Lecture for Late Gov

Mrs. Betty Akeredolu, widow of the late former Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, has distanced herself and family from the memorial lecture being organized by the state government for Friday, December 27, 2024.

Describing it as “an insidious propaganda carried too far!” Mrs. Akeredolu said the Lucky Aiyedatiwa Administration never involved her nor the Family in planning the lecture which is one of the series of activities lined up to commemorate the first-year anniversary of the late governor.

Former Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, succumbed to cancer on December 27, 2023. And prominent rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN., has been selected to deliver the lecture, which would be chaired by Bashorun Seinde Arogbofa

But on Wednesday, Mrs. Akeredolu took to her X handle and roundly rejected the event.

“Re: Purported Aketi lecture by Ondo Lucky can’t be serious!”, the former Ondo First Lady declared in the post. “Which legacy? Lecture, my foot! This is not for Aketi because my family and I are not aware. Damn it! As the saying goes: You and your co-travellers cannot shave Aketi’s head in his absence. You cannot weep more than the bereaved. This is an insidious propaganda carried too far! Lucky, you are preoccupied with rubbishing Aketi’s legacy; you can’t succeed, anyway.”

Mrs. Akeredolu didn’t stop there. She further lampooned the organisers, saying that the event was a ploy to exploit Akeredolu’s legacy for pecuniary gains.

“Anybody close to Aketi and Arabinrin becomes your enemy,” she continued. “Your minions are scared to get close; otherwise, they lose their appointments. Now you want to pretend by organising one yeye lecture for Aketi’s memorial as an entry point to chop money on Aketi’s head. You are on your own o! If this is not #Yahoo #419 lecture, tell me what it is!”

But as reported by the Punch newspaper, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, Ebenezer Adeniyan, maintained that there was no rift between the state government and the Akeredolu Family over the memorial lecture.

Adeniyan revealed that the family was actually invited to the event; and that the Aiyedatiwa Administration honoured the late Akeredolu with a state burial which the governor attended.

“Akeredolu was not just a family man,” said the CPS. “He was the governor of Ondo State. He died while serving the state. He was given a state burial and the state governor attended all the burial activities in Akure, Owo, and Ibadan.

“The state government is organising this lecture to mark the first anniversary of his passing, and an invitation has been extended to the family for representation. There is no dispute between the government and the family, and we are aware that there will be other events lined up to mark that anniversary.”