Labour Party governor of Ondo State Dr. Olusegun Mimiko has become something of a sought after political bride in the South-West zone as the dominant regional Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and opposition Peoples Democratic Party go into over-drive to woo him over. DAVID AKINADEWO examines the moves being made by the two rivals – ACN, PDP – in the Sunshine State at ensuring that Mimiko dumps his party and joins theirs
The gubernatorial poll was conducted on April 14, 2007 and the newest party in the state, the Labour Party (LP) and its governorship candidate, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko won.But Dr. Olusegun Agagu was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under Prof Maurice Iwu. The declaration of Agagu was contested by Mimiko at the courts and he eventually got the mandate back after 22 months of fierce legal battle.
During the inauguration of Olusegun Mimiko as the governor of Ondo State at the Akure Sports Stadium on February 24, 2009 both the ACN and the PDP were largely represented with powerful delegations.
Precisely, the National Leader of the ACN, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu led other stalwarts of the party to the inauguration while the former National Deputy Chairman of the PDP, Chief Olabode George led that of the just ousted PDP to the carnival-like swearing-in ceremony.
Shortly after mounting the saddle of governance in the state, the ACN leaders started making moves to woo the newest bride in the South West to the party, but Mimiko was said to have turned down the request of the party to join its fold.
The PDP in the state which was aggrieved at the way it was thrown out of office courtesy of the Mimiko’s LP didn’t want to have anything to do with the popular governor.
As months rolled by, things started changing in the parties as the ACN changed its tactics of gently negotiating with Mimiko to aggressive method. When the ACN presidential campaign train came to Ondo State in March 2011 preparatory to the general elections, the leadership of the party came out to condemn Mimiko for what they termed his betrayal of the people that helped him while in the trenches.
Shortly after that outing and victory of the ACN in Oyo and Ogun states, the Governors of Ekiti and Osun states, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola were said to have been mandated to mount pressure on Mimiko to reconsider his stand of not being ready to join the party but that too failed as the Ondo governor was said to be adamant that their relationship was strictly on friendship basis and not to translate to marriage.
Having exhausted all avenues to woo him into its fold and ensure that all the six South West states are ruled by the ACN, the party has resolved to use coercion and blackmail to make the “Iroko” of Ondo state politics join its fold.
The scenario in the PDP is a bit different because a faction of the party in Ondo State loyal to the immediate past governor of the state, Dr Olusegun Agagu are working assiduously to ensure that Mimiko and his supporters did not return to the party, while the other faction engineered by the former Nigerian Ambassador to Greece and Australia, Prof Olu Agbi is ready to embrace him anytime he chooses to come back.
Also, the national leadership of the PDP is also wooing him back to the fold, but its own tactics is diplomacy as against the blackmail now engaged by ACN.
The position of the PDP leadership was again unveiled in Abuja last week when the Senate President, Senator David Mark and the Chief Servant of Niger State, Alhaji Muazu Babangida in their separate speeches at the award nite organised by the publishers of the Tribune titles described Mimiko as a gentleman and urged him to come back to the party.
They disclosed that it was events of the past that forced him to dump the party but expressed happiness that he launched a new political party few months to the election and still won, which has gone to show that he is loved by his people.
The duo of PDP stalwarts described Mimiko as part of the PDP and encouraged him to come back to the fold of the party.
Now it is clear that both the PDP and the ACN are leaving no stone unturned to get the political bride of Ondo State into their fold but their methods are at parallel lines.
Speaking on the moves being made by the political parties to get Mimiko at all cost, the Vice Chairman, House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Hon Akindele Adeniyi said Iroko as he is popularly called will not go to any political party again.
He stated that no matter what the ACN does, Ondo State is for LP and Mimiko will win next year’s governorship election without inputs from any other political party.
But as events unfold in the state, it is clear that the two major opposition political parties in the state are not resting on their oars to get the bride of Ondo State because without his teeming supporters, it will be difficult for them to have a shot at the highly endowed Sunshine State.
Tracking Back…
Dr. Olusegun Rahman Mimiko started politics in the 1980s, but came to the limelight in 1992 under the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) when he became the youngest Commissioner for Health in the history of the old Ondo State and precisely in the short-lived administration of Evangelist Bamidele Olumilua, the second executive governor of the state.
He was actively involved in the events that culminated in the enthronement of Democracy in the country and thereafter became a force again in 1999 when the third executive governor of the state, late Chief Adebayo Adefarati appointed him as the Commissioner for Health in the Alliance for Democracy (AD) controlled government and he proved his metus to the extent that the Health Rangers programme initiated by the ministry became a household name in the state.
Based on political differences, he parted ways with Adefarati and joined the PDP and provided support that eventually led to the victory of the immediate past governor of the state, Dr Olusegun Agagu at the polls. Agagu appointed him as Secretary to the State Government but two years into the PDP government, he was appointed as the Minister for Housing and Urban Development by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
This appointment gave him better leverage to present himself as an alternative to Agagu who was said to have promised to run for one term and support Mimiko for Governor but reneged on his promise due to the pressure mounted on him by political associates. At this point, a major crack surfaced in the PDP Ondo state which the party has not been able to seal up till now.
The singular act of Agagu and his supporters in the party led to the resignation of both the state Chairman of the party and state Secretary, Alhaji Alli Olanusi and Barrister Boluwaji Kunlere who are now the state Deputy Governor and Senator representing the Southern Senatorial District of the state respectively.
Mimiko finally resigned from the Federal cabinet in December 2006 and when it was obvious that the Ondo state chapter of the party had been hijacked by Dr. Olusegun Agagu and there was no way a free and fair primary could be conducted, he launched and inaugurated the Labour Party in Akure on December 14, 2006.
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