Akeredolu, Aregbesola settle four year rift

••The past is now in the past, Aregbesola assures Akeredolu

THE four years rift between the former governor of Osun State and Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola and the Ondo State governor Rotimi Akeredolu over the 2016 governorship election has been resolved.

Recall that Aregbesola in 2016 supported the candidature of Chief Olusola Oke who contested under the Alliance for Democracy as against Rotimi Akeredolu who was the party’s candidate in the election.

This pitched the two-party leaders against themselves and they have been avoiding each other since Akeredolu won the election in 2016.

Speaking in Akure at the commissioning of newly acquired fire fighting vehicle in Akure, the state capital, Aregbesola said his personal presence to commission the vehicle was to further assure Governor Akeredolu that whatever that has happened between them has been buried in the past.

“A lot has occurred between me and the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu SAN.

Aregbesola who assured governor Akeredolu that irrespective of their differences in the past, “the past has now remained in the past”.

Describing Akeredolu as his personal lawyer before his emergence as governor, Aregbesola said Ondo State was his home having spent the first eighteen years of his life in the Sunshine State.

Commissioning the fire fighting vehicles, Aregbesola warned that fire is a very deadly act while urging the people to be careful in handling any appliances and other variables that can cause a fire.

He further urged the people to be committed to preventing and mitigating fire incidents, adding that it was more reasonable and safe to preventing it than quenching fire.

Speaking earlier, Governor Akeredolu had reeled out the interventions of his administration at ensuring the effectiveness of the state fire services.

“The reform carried out by our administration in the Fire Service has made it possible for the Head of the Fire Service in the state to attain the Director cadre which is level Sixteen in the state civil services.

While saying that his administration met the entire State Fire Service Stations in comatose, Akeredolu lamented that almost all the Fire Stations in the state were not functional due to lack of good fire truck, adding that all firefighting consumables were also not available.

“The spirits of the staff were at the lowest ebb because they were neither motivated nor up-to-date in modern firefighting methods

He said his administration had facilitated the donation of four new firefighting trucks by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in the year 2017, saying it was unfortunate that only one of them that functioned for a while.

”We are working hard and putting a strategy in place to ensure all the fire stations are put in good shape within the shortest period of time to respond to emergencies as and when necessary.

The Controller General, Federal Fire Service, Dr Liman Ibrahim commended the Governor’s efforts towards stemming the tide of fire disasters in the state and strengthening the institutional capacity.