New Ondo governor freezes state‘s accounts

The Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has frozen the accounts of the state government in various commercial banks.

Mimiko, who was declared the winner of the April 2007 governorship election by the Court of Appeal in Benin on Monday, has also appointed the spokesperson of the Labour party, Mr. Kolawole Olabisi, as his Chief Press Secretary. A statement by Olabisi, on Monday, said that Mimiko had warned commercial banks not to transact any business with members of the administration of ousted governor, Dr. Olusegun Agagu.

Mimiko also advised the state‘s civil servants to keep watch over government property.

Meanwhile, Agagu, who has accepted the verdict, reportedly fled the state immediately the appeal court‘s verdict was announced. There were also reports that some people died while jubilating over the development.

Also, the Peoples Democratic Party has described the development as a setback and shocking. However, leaders of some other political parties have hailed the appeal court for upholding the rule of law and democracy in the country.

In a unanimous decision by a panel of five justices led by the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Umaru Abdullahi, the court upheld the decision of the Ondo State Election Petitions Tribunal, that had on July 25, 2008 declared Mimiko as the winner of the election. The appeal court said Mimiko, a medical doctor, won in 12 out of the 18 local governments of the state.

The removal of Agagu, who is of the PDP, has reduced the ruling party‘s control of states in Nigeria to 25, with Ekiti State, where the appeal court on February 17, 2009 ordered for a rerun governorship election in 90 days, still hanging in the balance.

Mimiko‘s ascension to office follows an acrimonious battle since 2007 between him and Agagu. Both were formerly of the PDP, before Mimiko‘s bid to clinch the governorship ticket in 2007 was truncated by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Mimiko is a former minister of Housing and Urban Development and has been a Secretary to the State Government in Ondo State.

The Labour Party was formed along ideologies espoused by the Nigeria Labour Congress, as the only pro-workers‘ political party in Nigeria. It was the initial platform on which the former NLC President, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, sought to run for governor of Edo State in 2007. However, due to political exigencies, Oshiomhole later dumped the LP and moved to the Action Congress.

He was eventually declared winner of the April 2007 governorship election by the appeal court on November 11, 2008. The LP has thus joined other opposition parties which control states in Nigeria such as the Action Congress, All Nigeria Peoples Party, the Progressive Peoples Alliance and All Progressive Grand Alliance.

Former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige, was the first governor to be removed through the judicial process in the Fourth Republic. After his removal in March 2006 by the appeal court, other governors similarly ousted include Senator Liyel Imoke (Cross River); Ibrahim Idris (Kogi); Sir Celestine Omehia (Rivers); Mr. Andy Uba (Anambra); Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); Mr. Segun Oni (Ekiti); Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor (Edo).

However, Imoke, Nyako and Idris returned to office after winning the rerun elections in their states, as ordered by the appeal court. Omehia was removed by the Supreme Court and replaced with Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, whom the apex court said was wrongly substituted as the PDP’s governorship candidate.

There are reports of wild jubilation on the streets of the Ondo State capital, Akure, while officials of Agagu’s ousted administration have been moving their property out of official quarters since Sunday.

Verdict On Ondo Polls - PM News

February 23, 2009

By Lanre Babalola /Benin  &  Gbenro Adeshina /Akure

The Court of Appeal in Benin, the Edo state capital, this morning, upheld the verdict of the election petitions tribunal sitting in Akure, Ondo state, which declared Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, the Labour Party candidate, winner of the 14 April, 2007, governorship election in Ondo state.

On 25 July, 2008, the tribunal, presided over by Justice Harbar Nabaruma, nullified the election of Dr. Olusegun Agagu of the Peoples Democratic Party, ordering that the certificate of return issued him by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, be retrieved and, in his place, the petitioner, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, be sworn-in.

The President of the Court of Appeal in Benin, Justice Abdullahi Mustapha, who read the judgment today, declared that Mimiko should be sworn-in with immediate effect, as the duly elected governor of Ondo state. In a unanimous decision, the Appeal Tribunal sitting in Benin dismissed all but one of the grounds of appeal brought by Agagu.

It declared Dr. Segun Mimiko of the Labour Party, the winner of the election, with 195,030 votes, while Agagu of the PDP won 131,565.

There was wild jubilation in Benin, Akure, Ondo and other parts of the state by supporters of Mimiko and the Labour Party. In Akure, Mimiko’s supporters stormed the streets in celebration. Some of them carried placards, which read: Mimiko: the Obama of Ondo State. About the same time, former governor Olusegun Agagu left the state house in a convoy of 60 cars. His destination was unknown as at press time.

During today’s judgement in Benin, the atmosphere was tense, as there was tight security around the court premises. Dozens of anti-riot policemen and bomb squad were deployed to the venue to keep the peace.

Dr. Mimiko and the National Chairman of the Labour Party, Chief Dan Iwuanyanwu, arrived the court premises few minutes past 9 a.m., beaming with smiles, amidst praises from the party supporters.

The judges arrived at 9.50 a.m., and immediately commenced the business of the day, with supporters of PDP and LP betraying their anxiety over the outcome of the appeal.

In Akure, the Ondo state capital, all the markets, shops and major private businesses were shut, with all major streets deserted this morning. The situation in Ondo and Owo towns was similar. Motor parks were also closed in Akure, Owo and Ondo.

Policemen, armed to the teeth, were deployed to strategic areas in the state capital and other major towns where security reports envisaged violence in the wake of the judgement.

The Ondo State Radio Corporation (OSRC), which is pro-government and Adaba FM, which promotes Dr. Mimiko, both kept on appealing to their numerous listeners to maintain peace and order in the state.

P.M.NEWS gathered that there had been power outage in the state capital for three days before it was restored yesterday evening. The steady power supply was well utilised by the people in the town, as they kept indoors watching films and listening to radio, while top politicians kept in touch with journalists in Benin on the phone.

In a telephone conversation from Akure, by the group’s Director Media & Research, Hon. Bola Ilori, the Progressive Coalition hailed the judgement ordering the change of guards in Ondo state, calling it “the restoration of the hope of the Ondo people and redemptive balm on the excruciating alienation of the people of the state after about six years in the throes of Agagu’s inflicted pains and labyrinth of economic haemorrahagic pillage.

“It’s a refreshing new day, pregnant with positive progressive possibilities.” In expressing happiness, Bola Ilori reminded Nigerians that the wheels of justice run slowly but surely and its catching up with electoral robbers across the land.

“We salute the courageous people of Ondo state for their tenacity of purpose. ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,’ says Edmund Burke. The mass of Ondo people stood firmly against falsehood to prevent the triumph of do-or-die polls robbers.

“Ondo State citizens and indeed all lovers of justice, fairness, democracy and development in Nigeria are happy as we are confident that the new Ondo state, under Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, will be made to work for the people of the state and not for a few greedy politicians and their phalanges, as it was under Dr. Olusegun Agagu, since 2003. This is the day the Lord has made,” Ilori said.

Mimiko had, on 14 May, 2007, approached the tribunal, requesting it to set aside Agagu’s election for non compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2006. Among other allegations, the petitioner averred that there were proven cases of multiple thumbprinting of ballot papers, falsification of figures and involvement of unauthorised officials in the collation of results, thus usurping the functions of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Using forensic experts, the Labour Party candidate was able to convince the tribunal that he won the election having scored 25 per cent and more in 13 of the 18 local governments in the state, as against the PDP candidate’s nine out of the 18 councils. With that, the Labour Party led with a margin of 78,000 valid votes. However, at the Appellate Court, the PDP began to canvass a fresh ground for the re-run of the election, a plea that was not entered at the lower tribunal.

The upper court argued that the cancellation of some votes ultimately disenfranchised some electorate, thus negating the emergence of an outright winner. Meanwhile, the animosity between the rival parties has continued unabated, as both have continued to trade accusations and counter accusations, leading to several clashes between supporters of the two political gladiators. The sustained exchange of tirades ensured that the state remained tense politically, and as part of efforts to forestall the breakdown of law and order, police authorities drafted about 5,000 men to keep watch at the Court of Appeal, Benin, where the judgment was delivered.