Political lull in Ondo after poll

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