Ondo Deputy Governor Refutes Alleged Assault On Wife

Ondo State Deputy Governor, Lucky Ayedatiwa, has denied an allegation that he was assaulting his wife, saying he has never ever raised his hands against his partner, Oluwaseun.

It was learnt that a civil society group, Society for Women Empowerment (SWE) accused the deputy governor of assaulting his wife twice in the last four months.

The National Coordinator of the group, Mrs Damilola Charles, in a statement made available to newsmen in Akure, accused the deputy governor of repeatedly beating his wife in the presence of his staff and friends.

Charles said “wife beating is a civil rights problem of enormous magnitude, the campaign on violence against women must be applicable to elected officers in the country.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Kenneth Odusola-Stevenson, the deputy governor denied ever raising his hands against his wife since they got married, while describing the group as faceless and the allegation baseless.

He said that the report was capable of creating needless tension in our State.

The statement reads: “The allegation of domestic abuse against the person of the deputy governor is a figment of the imagination of those behind it and their ungodly intentions to cause crisis in the State had been known for weeks and therefore such falsehood did not come as a surprise.

“While His Excellency reserves the right to privacy on issues pertaining to his family, it is pertinent to state clearly that there has never been any domestic violence between the Deputy Governor and his lovely wife, Mrs. Oluwaseun Aiyedatiwa, who at the moment is outside the shores of the country.

“It is not a secret that Mrs. Oluwaseun Aiyedatiwa has lived and worked in the United Kingdom for many years before her husband became an elected public official in Nigeria and since then she has been shuttling between United Kingdom and Nigeria to take care of the home and the children who are also in the United Kingdom.

“Therefore, any report of alleged domestic issues within the family should be taken as the handiwork of the enemies of the State who are bent of causing crisis where there is none and we therefore warn those spreading such falsehood to desist or face the consequences.

“It is concerning to see that a faceless group said to be headed by a name not known anywhere in the State could sell such fabrication to media men.

“It is more concerning, however, that such lie, which was not backed with any evidence whatsoever, could be promoted into a news item by journalists.

“In the last four months quoted in the false report as timeline, His Excellency has been busy with official duties of his office and has during the period performed the duties of the office of the Governor as delegated to him by his boss, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, while he was on Leave.

“It is therefore uncharitable for anyone to claim that the Deputy Governor has in that period carried out “multiple assaults” on his spouse who is out of the country. This is nothing but political blackmail taken too far.

The deputy governor urged “the people of Ondo State to ignore such falsehood as those behind it may just be plotting further attacks on the Deputy Governor to promote their sinister agenda.”