Six months after assuming office, Ondo State Deputy Governor, Chief Olayide Owolabi Adelami, is yet to move into the official deputy governor’s lodge, forcing him to rotate between hotels in Akure at a cost insiders say has exceeded ₦130 million.
Multiple government sources told SaharaReporters the accommodation impasse is driven by political mistrust. “There is a deputy governor’s lodge, but they didn’t let him move in because they don’t want a power struggle,” one insider claimed. “There’s even a VIP lodge in Government House that was renovated, but he was also barred from using it.”
Since his swearing-in on February 1, 2024, Adelami — a former Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly and ex-APC governorship aspirant — has reportedly lodged in at least four hotels in the Ijapo and Alagbaka areas. Sources say additional costs have also accrued from accommodating his aides.
Adelami was nominated on January 24, 2024, just hours after Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa dissolved the state’s Executive Council. At his inauguration, the governor hailed Adelami’s “integrity and experience” and urged transparency, while the deputy governor pledged loyalty. Their political alliance was recently upheld when the Court of Appeal dismissed election petitions filed by four opposition parties over the November 2024 polls.
However, frictions within the administration persist. Multiple sources allege that Commissioner for Finance, Mrs. Omowunmi Isaac, wields significant influence over the governor’s decisions. “The governor only listens to the Commissioner of Finance,” one source alleged.
Isaac, a controversial figure in state politics, has faced calls for removal from the opposition PDP over allegations of budget padding and questionable spending in the 2025 Appropriation Act, including ₦11.5 billion in security votes, ₦250 million for “honorariums and sitting allowances,” and ₦230 million for a Toyota Prado SUV for her office.
Earlier this year, she drew public criticism after a video emerged showing her spraying ₦500 notes at an event, in violation of the Central Bank’s currency abuse laws. No action has been taken, despite recent high-profile prosecutions for similar offences.
Ironically, Adelami’s current predicament mirrors Governor Aiyedatiwa’s own struggles under the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, who sidelined him during a 2023 political rift that escalated to an impeachment attempt. That crisis ended only after President Bola Tinubu’s intervention.
Akeredolu’s death in December 2023 elevated Aiyedatiwa to governor — but the tensions that once constrained him now appear to shadow his own deputy.
As of press time, the Ondo State Government has yet to comment on the deputy governor’s accommodation or the controversies surrounding the finance ministry.
