The
tension that characterised the build-up to the October 20, 2012
governorship election in Ondo State has suddenly gone down following the
declaration of the result which returned Governor Olusegun Mimiko to
the Government House for a second term in office, writes SUNDAY ABORISADE
Supporters
of the Labour Party in Ondo State went wild with celebration across the
state on Sunday, October 21 after the Independent National Electoral
Commission declared Governor Olusegun Mimiko as the winner of the
governorship election held the previous day.
Many
relaxation arenas and fun spots suddenly came alive as hundreds of
jubilant politicians and their friends besieged those places to savour
the joy of the moment. They repeated the action for a few days before
everybody started going about their pre-electioneering days’ activities.
Various
ministries, departments and agencies of the state government also
organised parties to celebrate the LP’s victory at the poll in many
parts of the state at different times up till the second week of the
election.
On
the other hand, however, the opposition parties, especially the Action
Congress of Nigeria and the Peoples Democratic Party cried foul as their
leadership in the state levelled series of allegations and
counter-allegations of rigging against INEC, security operatives and the
LP.
Virtually
all the press statements issued either by the campaign organisations of
the governorship candidates or the party secretariats immediately after
the election centred on the call for the cancellation of the poll
because of alleged manipulation occasioned by violence and massive
rigging.
The
tone of the opposition’s virulent attacks, however, waned when
respected political office holders, elder statesmen, religious leaders,
traditional rulers and notable politicians across the various political
parties all over the country, started commending the conduct of the
election.
Majority
of the numerous interest groups and institutions that made comments on
the election declared it as free, fair and credible hence, it was no
longer fashionable for any group or political party to condemn the
exercise.
Except
for the filing of petitions by the ACN, the Accord Party, CPC and the
PDP at the Election Petitions Tribunal, where they asked for the
nullification of the poll and the reply of the LP and Mimiko to the
petitions, which enjoyed a level of publicity, there has been no major
activity in the political scene that has attracted attention in the last
few weeks.
An
investigation by our correspondent showed that government activities
were not affected by the lull in the political atmosphere in the state.
Contractors executing various capital projects, especially those
handling road projects for the state, had mobilised men and materials to
site after the raining season.
The
Commissioner for Works, Mr. Gboye Adegbenro, immediately after the
election, summoned the contractors handling various road projects for
the state into his office and asked them to return to site since the dry
season had set in.
He
warned that the state government would not hesitate to revoke their
contracts if their jobs were perceived as unsatisfactory because the
state did not owe any of them. Adegbenro, thereafter, backed his words
by action when he started visiting the various project sites in company
with his ministry officials and journalists.
However,
the criticism that greeted the activities of the government, its
policies and programmes from the camp of the opposition parties before
the election was no longer available.
But
the PDP’s Director of Organisation in the state, Mr. Ayodele Fadaka,
said the silence in the opposition camp would soon end. He told our
correspondent on the telephone that the party had been busy in the last
few weeks, putting its papers together to challenge the result of the
October 20 election at the tribunal.
Fadaka
said, “For some weeks now we have been trying to put our papers
together. We need some time to perfect our documentation and the nation
will be shocked by the time we come up with details of all that went
wrong during the poll.
“I
can give you the assurance that the party will start tearing the
anti-people activities and policies of the state government into pieces
very soon while our lawyers will be revealing their dirty games in the
court.
“For
example, we will soon be asking the LP government to tell our people
what it wanted to do with the $77m it wanted to take as loan.”
The
Director of Media, Publicity and Strategy of the ACN in Ondo State, Mr.
Idowu Ajanaku, did not pick the calls of our correspondent as that the
time of filing this report but he had, on a few occasions after the
election, issued some statements which had alleged that Mimiko and the
LP evaded service of the summons from the tribunal.
He
had described the action as an antic to buy time perhaps to make sure
that the case was not disposed of within the constitutionally accepted
period.
Also
recently, Ajanaku had issued a statement describing the alleged move by
Mimiko to borrow $77.9m from a foreign organisation as not only
unnecessary but an act capable of jeopardising the welfare of the future
generation.
He
described the move as embarrassing and in tandem with the character of
this government, which seems bent on plunging the state into perpetual
debt.
He
said, “It will be recalled that questions have been asked on how the
government spent the over N600bn which accrued to it for almost four
years, and the $50m raised through bond from the capital market in spite
of being one of the major oil-producing states in the country.
“We
are also surprised at the claim by the state Commissioner for Finance
that the said $77.9m loan being sought would be spent on youth
employment and health programmes.
“We
are not saying that it is wrong for the government to borrow money,
however, the state has said that it planned to spend $50m on health
programmes and $27.9m on youth employment.
“We
do not agree that Ondo State should secure such a huge foreign loan to
pursue the dream of 30,000 babies per year, which the state governor has
earlier unveiled as the major focus of the Abiye Health Programme.”
However,
the Commissioner for Information in the state, Mr. Kayode Akinmade,
said the opposition parties were dazed by the overwhelming victory
recorded by the LP at the poll hence, “they had gone into their shells
since they knew that the people were unperturbed by their lies and
propaganda.”
Akinmade
admitted that the lull in political activities after the election was
normal because all the major players who took active part in the poll
had put in much energy and zeal and that there was the need to have some
rest after the stressful event.
He,
however, stressed that government activities did not stop as more
projects were being completed while new ones were being initiated.
He
said, “While Governor Mimiko is working hard to provide responsive and
responsible leadership for the good people of the state, the opposition
parties had gone to sleep because they knew that their wicked antics had
been exposed and well known to the people who had refused to take them
serious in the first instance.”
Close
watchers of political developments in the state are, however, of the
view that the lull in the political activities currently being
experienced in the state will soon fizzle out and give way to another
round of active politicking when the election petition tribunal resumes
sitting probably this month.
Punch Nigeria
No comments:
Post a Comment