• Why election was successful, by Mimiko
FOR
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State, the battle for the
governorship seat has just begun. The party, which claims to have
gathered shocking evidences of malpractices and irregularities,
yesterday disclosed plan to contest the outcome of the last weekend’s
polls at election tribunal.
Similarly yesterday, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which also alleged irregularities in the conduct of the polls, said it was waiting for the outcome of a meeting by its leaders to decide on the next line of action.
Meanwhile, Governor Olusegun Mimiko and Labour Party (LP) candidate in the election has attributed the success of the polls to the fact that it was an isolated one.
The Ondo chapter of the PDP, in a statement by its Director of Publicity, Ayo Fadaka, berated some national leaders of the party who have already congratulated Mimiko on his victory, saying they should have made adequate consultation with their members in the state before making such moves.
In the statement, the Ondo PDP said it was particularly concerned by the “various comments and congratulatory messages sent by the National Publicity Secretary of the party and even some leaders of the party to Mimiko over his victory in the last election that is fraught with irregularities.
“This flurry of messages particularly by our kith and kin in the PDP without due consultation with us at the state level to discover what actually went wrong has the potent tendency to misconstrue our position and the actions we intend to take on this matter.
“We take serious exception to the obvious lack of camaraderie in our party and the indecent haste of certain functionaries to fall on each other in congratulating a man who essentially is a beneficiary of a compromised election. It is important to place on record that the avalanche of the security provided for the election was lethargic and absolutely in contrast to what obtained in Edo State.”
According to the party, “the posted security men were only visible and present in the urban areas and they left the rural areas and villages un-policed thereby allowing Mimiko and his goons to compromise the election.
“We are still gathering evidences of malpractices perpetrated in this election and what we have gathered so far will shock every apostle of one-man-one vote to their marrows. Therefore, we declare most irrevocably that we will contest the result of this election and we assure our people we will get victory and Mimiko will leave government the same way he came.
“As far as the PDP in Ondo State is concerned, the battle is just beginning and victory is certain. Let whoever so desire continue to congratulate Mimiko but we will battle him legally. We call on our members to remain undaunted in the face of this abandonment by those who ordinarily should show understanding and care at a time like this.”
In a statement yesterday, the Director of Media, Publicity and Strategy for the Akeredolu Campaign Organisation (ACO), Idowu Ajanaku, said “the ACN has given a great show in the election with a remarkable improvement on her previous performances in elections in Ondo State while the lot of the LP has dwindled as a result of the rejection of Mimiko by majority of the voters.
“It is clear that in contrast with the performance of Mimiko in 2007 in which he was declared winner in 2009 by the Court of Appeal, where he polled 198,261 which represent 55 per cent of the votes cast, his 260,199 votes represents only 41.7 per cent of the total 624,659 vote cast, reflecting a proportional decline, meaning that the opposition got majority of the votes.”
According to the ACN, “on the declaration of the election results, the Akure city wore a mourning look until their supporters had to be forced out for some sort of celebration as against the spontaneous celebration of 2009 after Mimiko mandate was restored. This speaks volume on the authenticity of the victory which we believe when tested will reveal what sort it is made of, whether it is of sand or solid rock.”
The party said it gave a good showing in all the local councils “in spite of the massive rigging, intimidation of supporters in the party’s strongholds, cancellation of results in Idanre, Ipele and Okitipupa among others.”
The ACN said: “We are poised to put the LP government on its toes from day one, pending the outcome of the meeting of the leadership of our great party to decide on the next line of action on the massive irregularities experienced in the conduct of the October 20 elections.”
Mimiko, while being presented with a Certificate of Returns by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the exercise, advocated staggered elections to strengthen the country’s electoral system.
Mimiko secured a second term in office by scoring 260,199 votes out of the 594,244 valid ballots cast to defeat his closest contestants, Olusola Oke of the PDP who scored 155,961 and Rotimi Akeredolu of the ACN who scored 143,512.
According to the governor, “one critical element of success is these staggered elections. I am sure we did not deliberately craft it, but this has been crafted for us. It appears God has decided to intervene in our electoral affairs through this. I believe that our electoral umpire, INEC, should now go to that and create a regimen of staggered elections for Nigeria.
“From my experience in the elections that took place in Edo and Ondo states on these staggered elections option, it will probably be one credible solution to the challenges of electoral malpractices in Nigeria.”
Mimiko said INEC should work on ensuring that logos of political parties that are similar are not very close to each other in the ballot papers in order to avoid having thousands of voided votes. Over 30,000 votes were voided in the last polls.
He also advocated a continuous voters registration scheme to accommodate those who have attained voting age, to prevent disenfranchisement of many eligible voters.
While commending INEC for its increased level of commitment to having a credible electoral system, the governor expressed gratitude to President Goodluck Jonathan for delivering on his promise to provide security to secure our votes.
In his remarks, INEC Commissioner in charge of the South West who presented the certificate, Prof. Lai Olurode, said “though INEC is not claiming to be perfect as there are bound to be challenges, the most important thing is to remove what remains of electoral malfeasance.”
He noted INEC has zero tolerance for acts of indiscipline among its staffers, saying “only God knows the number of INEC officials that have been axed since 2011.”
Olurode who praised the over 40 per cent voters turnout as the highest so far, described the jubilation that greeted the declaration of the results as an evidence of transparent conduct of the polls.
More eminent Nigerians and groups have congratulated Governor Mimiko.
The national chairman of PDP Bamanga Tukur told journalists in Abuja that politics which should be seen as a game by players must not be taken as a do-or-die affair. “The PDP in Ondo State now is an opposition party not the ruling party. Even though nationally we are the ruling party, in Ondo State, PDP is not the ruling party and opposition must oppose. The election was a wake-up call to all of us after all, the state was ruled by PDP before Labour Party took over. It is just a change of guard.”
Doctors under the aegis of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) have also congratulated Mimiko. The NMA, in a statement, said: “We expect Governor Mimiko to build on his previous performance, strengthen the institutions, industrialise Ondo State, increase physical and financial access to quality healthcare, create more jobs and improve the standard of living of the people.”
Similarly yesterday, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which also alleged irregularities in the conduct of the polls, said it was waiting for the outcome of a meeting by its leaders to decide on the next line of action.
Meanwhile, Governor Olusegun Mimiko and Labour Party (LP) candidate in the election has attributed the success of the polls to the fact that it was an isolated one.
The Ondo chapter of the PDP, in a statement by its Director of Publicity, Ayo Fadaka, berated some national leaders of the party who have already congratulated Mimiko on his victory, saying they should have made adequate consultation with their members in the state before making such moves.
In the statement, the Ondo PDP said it was particularly concerned by the “various comments and congratulatory messages sent by the National Publicity Secretary of the party and even some leaders of the party to Mimiko over his victory in the last election that is fraught with irregularities.
“This flurry of messages particularly by our kith and kin in the PDP without due consultation with us at the state level to discover what actually went wrong has the potent tendency to misconstrue our position and the actions we intend to take on this matter.
“We take serious exception to the obvious lack of camaraderie in our party and the indecent haste of certain functionaries to fall on each other in congratulating a man who essentially is a beneficiary of a compromised election. It is important to place on record that the avalanche of the security provided for the election was lethargic and absolutely in contrast to what obtained in Edo State.”
According to the party, “the posted security men were only visible and present in the urban areas and they left the rural areas and villages un-policed thereby allowing Mimiko and his goons to compromise the election.
“We are still gathering evidences of malpractices perpetrated in this election and what we have gathered so far will shock every apostle of one-man-one vote to their marrows. Therefore, we declare most irrevocably that we will contest the result of this election and we assure our people we will get victory and Mimiko will leave government the same way he came.
“As far as the PDP in Ondo State is concerned, the battle is just beginning and victory is certain. Let whoever so desire continue to congratulate Mimiko but we will battle him legally. We call on our members to remain undaunted in the face of this abandonment by those who ordinarily should show understanding and care at a time like this.”
In a statement yesterday, the Director of Media, Publicity and Strategy for the Akeredolu Campaign Organisation (ACO), Idowu Ajanaku, said “the ACN has given a great show in the election with a remarkable improvement on her previous performances in elections in Ondo State while the lot of the LP has dwindled as a result of the rejection of Mimiko by majority of the voters.
“It is clear that in contrast with the performance of Mimiko in 2007 in which he was declared winner in 2009 by the Court of Appeal, where he polled 198,261 which represent 55 per cent of the votes cast, his 260,199 votes represents only 41.7 per cent of the total 624,659 vote cast, reflecting a proportional decline, meaning that the opposition got majority of the votes.”
According to the ACN, “on the declaration of the election results, the Akure city wore a mourning look until their supporters had to be forced out for some sort of celebration as against the spontaneous celebration of 2009 after Mimiko mandate was restored. This speaks volume on the authenticity of the victory which we believe when tested will reveal what sort it is made of, whether it is of sand or solid rock.”
The party said it gave a good showing in all the local councils “in spite of the massive rigging, intimidation of supporters in the party’s strongholds, cancellation of results in Idanre, Ipele and Okitipupa among others.”
The ACN said: “We are poised to put the LP government on its toes from day one, pending the outcome of the meeting of the leadership of our great party to decide on the next line of action on the massive irregularities experienced in the conduct of the October 20 elections.”
Mimiko, while being presented with a Certificate of Returns by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the exercise, advocated staggered elections to strengthen the country’s electoral system.
Mimiko secured a second term in office by scoring 260,199 votes out of the 594,244 valid ballots cast to defeat his closest contestants, Olusola Oke of the PDP who scored 155,961 and Rotimi Akeredolu of the ACN who scored 143,512.
According to the governor, “one critical element of success is these staggered elections. I am sure we did not deliberately craft it, but this has been crafted for us. It appears God has decided to intervene in our electoral affairs through this. I believe that our electoral umpire, INEC, should now go to that and create a regimen of staggered elections for Nigeria.
“From my experience in the elections that took place in Edo and Ondo states on these staggered elections option, it will probably be one credible solution to the challenges of electoral malpractices in Nigeria.”
Mimiko said INEC should work on ensuring that logos of political parties that are similar are not very close to each other in the ballot papers in order to avoid having thousands of voided votes. Over 30,000 votes were voided in the last polls.
He also advocated a continuous voters registration scheme to accommodate those who have attained voting age, to prevent disenfranchisement of many eligible voters.
While commending INEC for its increased level of commitment to having a credible electoral system, the governor expressed gratitude to President Goodluck Jonathan for delivering on his promise to provide security to secure our votes.
In his remarks, INEC Commissioner in charge of the South West who presented the certificate, Prof. Lai Olurode, said “though INEC is not claiming to be perfect as there are bound to be challenges, the most important thing is to remove what remains of electoral malfeasance.”
He noted INEC has zero tolerance for acts of indiscipline among its staffers, saying “only God knows the number of INEC officials that have been axed since 2011.”
Olurode who praised the over 40 per cent voters turnout as the highest so far, described the jubilation that greeted the declaration of the results as an evidence of transparent conduct of the polls.
More eminent Nigerians and groups have congratulated Governor Mimiko.
The national chairman of PDP Bamanga Tukur told journalists in Abuja that politics which should be seen as a game by players must not be taken as a do-or-die affair. “The PDP in Ondo State now is an opposition party not the ruling party. Even though nationally we are the ruling party, in Ondo State, PDP is not the ruling party and opposition must oppose. The election was a wake-up call to all of us after all, the state was ruled by PDP before Labour Party took over. It is just a change of guard.”
Doctors under the aegis of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) have also congratulated Mimiko. The NMA, in a statement, said: “We expect Governor Mimiko to build on his previous performance, strengthen the institutions, industrialise Ondo State, increase physical and financial access to quality healthcare, create more jobs and improve the standard of living of the people.”
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