By Uche Amunike
Days after the news of the rumoured death of Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu hit the airwaves, his Media handlers have released a video where the Governor was seen singing and dancing in a room.
There had been rumours about the governor’s death, but it escalated on Saturday, after a gossip blog posted that Akeredolu, who had been confined in a hospital abroad, was in fact, dead. This news was faulted by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Richard Olatunde who released a statement stating that Akeredolu sent a letter to the State House of Assembly on March 23, 2022 explaining that he would be away for 14 working days which will serve as the first part of his 2022 annual leave. He went ahead to transfer power to his Deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
Governor Akeredolu was said to have left the country for Germany after the APC convention that was held in March 2022.
Ondo State First Lady, Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu on her part, has denied reports that her husband was dead and went ahead to post on her verified Facebook page, Sunday, that her husband was currently on vacation and not dead.
She went ahead to post a video that lasted for 19 seconds and which has now gone viral, showing her husband, Governor Akeredolu in a room, singing and dancing to gospel songs with a man suspected to be one of his aides.
Even though a post on Instagram claimed that the governor is in a critical state as a result of prostrate cancer and was currently on life support in a hospital abroad, his wife, Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu tweeted thus: ‘Baba Aketi niyen! Dey enjoy your vacation jare. A begi wetin I dey hear, gist kini? Shitloveragain? Na you go waka go hell fire! (This means: Baba Aketi, continue enjoying your vacation. What am I hearing? ‘Shitlover’ again? It is you that will go to hell fire.)’
Governor Akeredolu Chief Press Secretary, Mr Olatunde, also uploaded some video footages that showed Governor Rotimi Akeredolu dancing and singing in thanksgiving to God.
He further stated that the current rumour making the rounds about his principal’s death was merely a product of political adversaries of the present administration in Ondo State, while giving Nigerians the assurance that Governor Akeredolu is hale and hearty.
His words: ‘The fraud called ‘Gistlover’ has continued to show the irresponsibility of the social media. It has mindlessly advanced its voyage of spreading fake news. The handler of the Instagram page is nothing but a cold-hearted creature’.
‘We must identify the bad eggs in the society. They are everywhere. The blessings of the social media must not rob us of our sense of responsibility. We must be deliberate in making sure that only sane and responsible people are taken seriously on the social media space. Don’t listen to naysayers. God is our guide’, he concluded.
