Rotimi Akeredolu, Governor of Ondo State, has warned his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed, not to overheat the polity and set Nigeria on fire with his comments, especially on the current herdsmen crisis.
Governor Akeredolu said this in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on New Media, Olabode Olatunde, on Saturday in reaction to a comment made by Governor Mohammed.
Governor Mohammed had while responding to an order issued by Governor Akeredolu to all herdsmen to vacate the forest reserves in Ondo State said Nigerians do not need the Ondo State Governor’s permission to live in the state forests.
“Land is in the hands of the state and federal governments in trust but Nigerians don’t need the permission of governors or the federal government to settle everywhere. You don’t need the permission of the governor of Bauchi or the governor of Ondo to be in the forests of Ondo if you choose to live in the forests because under Section 41 of the constitution, you are free to settle anywhere,” the Bauchi State governor had said on Friday.
But reacting, Governor Akeredolu described his Bauchi counterpart’s comments as “provoking and insensitive”.
The Ondo Governor urged Nigerians to disregard Governor Mohammed’s comments.
The statement read: “The position of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, is not to engage or confront anyone who has the mindset of a crisis entrepreneur or war monger. Very provoking and insensitive as the statement appears, we can only err on the side of caution by advising Governor Bala Mohammed not set Nigeria on fire by his thoughts that are highly destructive and undermining national cohesion.
“Nigerians should ignore him and rather focus on those issues that can bring about peace and engender unity.”
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