The heath of the Ekiti State deputy governor, Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka, is generating anxiety, as the government yesterday declined to disclose her whereabouts.
The state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Tayo Ekundayo, said the state government had made its stand known on the health status of the deputy governor.
Speaking with National Mirror on phone yesterday, Ekundayo said: “I do not know where she is. She applied for leave and she is on sick leave. I am not a medical doctor, so I cannot know the nature of her illness”.
Government officials and members of the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) also kept sealed lips on the issue.
But a public official, who did not want his name mentioned, said the government had said all it knew about the health of the deputy governor.
Against rumour that the deputy governor had been flown abroad for medical attention, sources said yesterday that she is in her Lagos home.
In a statement issued on Monday by the Commissioner for Information, the state government said that Mrs. Olayinka “has taken leave to attend issues relating to her health”.
The urged all “wellmeaning citizens of the state to remember her in their prayers”.
The statement provoked reaction from a source close to the deputy governor, who claimed that she was on leave, not sick leave, and could choose to do whatever she liked with the break.
ACN Chairman in Ekiti State, Chief Olajide Awe, who said the deputy governor’s illness was natural, added: “All we need is to pray for her speedy recovery so that she comes back to office soon”.
Similarly, the state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) urged the people to pray for the ailing Mrs. Olayinka.
The party said the deputy governor needs prayers for miraculous healing.
The state PDP Chairman, Mr. Makanjuola Ogundipe, who said God could still turn the poor health of the deputy governor around, added that “although we are in the opposition party, we do not wish her dead”.
Ogundipe told National Mirror yesterday in Ado- Ekiti that report on the deputy governor’s health was “not cheery,” adding: “The last time I saw the woman, her frail looks showed all was not well with her”.
Praising the state government for the courage to tell the public about the deputy governor health status, the PDP boss, however, flayed Governor Kayode Fayemi for not communicating her condition to the House of Assembly as the law stipulated.
Ogundipe said that whether the deputy governor was on leave or sick leave, “the fact is that she will be unable to attend to her duties for the next three months or so, especially going by the situation report which is not cheery.
“Her position will be vacant while she is away. But that is not supposed to have any effect on governance as the governor, by law, is supposed to oversee the office at a time like this. But we will continue to pray for her” the PDP chief said.
Courtesy: National Mirror