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Tag: Mimiko

  • We’ve recovered from shock of defeat – PDP

    We’ve recovered from shock of defeat – PDP

    The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the party has recovered from its initial shock occasioned by the loss of power at the centre in the last general election.

    At its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held Thursday at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, the PDP said it found the loss disappointing, but has started the process of rebuilding.

    The Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, who presided over the meeting, added that the loss afforded the party to do some soul searching.

    Secondus said, “Our party has witnessed challenging times after our disappointing loss in the last elections. We moved from pain, despair, soul- searching and now by the grace of the Almighty God, we have started the process of rebuilding confidence in ourselves for a brighter future for the party.”

    According to him, the first step pursuant to soul searching was the resignation of Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu and Chief Tony Anenih as National Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Trustees respectively.

    Secondus called the attention of Nigerians to what the party described as selective implementation of the ongoing anti-corruption fight, saying members of the party were being singled out for prosecution.

    “It would be morally repugnant to target PDP members while seemingly protecting APC members. All we are calling for is an equal and fair treatment of all Nigerians under the law.

    “Government should prevent the slide of our dear country into a police state by controlling some of the brazen acts of the security agencies against state institutions as exemplified in the invasion of the Akwa Ibom Government House by some officers of the DSS.

    “In the same vein, we call on the federal government to come out straight with Nigerians on the state of our economy, which is gradually sliding into recession.

    “It appears that the lack of an economic direction and remedial actions from the government is having a debilitating effect on the economy. Jobs are being lost and small businesses are closing shops as a result of the lack of constructive economic engagement from the APC government,” the party chairman added.

    Also speaking at the event, Ondo State governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, said the PDP liberalised the democratic space in the 16 years it held power at the centre.

     

  • Ugbo praise Mimiko, monarch

    Ugbo praise Mimiko, monarch

    A group, the Ugbo Central Working Committee on Oil and Gas, has lauded Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko and the Olugbo of Ugbo, Oba Frederick Akinruntan, for the dissolution and the re-constitution of oil committees in Ilaje land.

    The group said the reconstitution will capture and carry along stakeholders to sustain and maintain the peace.

    It said naturally the compositions of oil committee are purely community affairs and is accepted by the Ilaje Ugbo central working committee on oil and gas.

    The group appealed to the governor to call some government agents, most especially the ministry of environment, to cooperate with the committee to provide succour to the people.

  • Ex-Ondo PDP Chairman rejects Mimiko’s appointment

    Ex-Ondo PDP Chairman rejects Mimiko’s appointment

    A former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State, Mr Ebenezer Alabi has rejected his recent appointment as one of the Senior Special Assistants (SSA) to Governor Oludegun Mimiko.

    There are three new SSA including Alabi, Otito Atikase and Kunle Agunbiade.

    Alabi gallantly steered the ship of the PDP in the state until the uproar that greeted the defection of Mimiko from Labour Party (LP) to PDP.

    He sacrificed his position for the consolidation of members of both the old and new PDP in the state.

    Alabi handed the mantle of leadership to a close associate of the governor, Clement Faboyede, last year.

    Mimiko had during the week announced 42 appointments out of which only seven members of the Old PDP were considered.

    Political observers in the state believed that the appointment belittled Alabi’s status as a former chairman of PDP in the state.

    But Alabi, who was a one-time chairman of Ifedore local government council in a letter he personally signed and dated October 7, 2015, appreciated Mimiko for counting him worthy of the appointment which he said he could not accept due to some personal exigencies.

    Part of the letter reads; “Regrettably Sir, I will not be able to take up the appointment as I have set in motion businesses plan that now demand my attention. Pending the time the set-up stage will be scaled and surmounted, my presence must be sufficient in the day-to-day running of the business. For the above reason, I humbly plead you allow me turn down the offer.

    “I am also working on my professional practice which will commence soon. In a few months time, the office will be opened for business. Which means, in a few months to come, I shall have two businesses that will be competing simultaneously for my attention.

    “Your Excellency, let me assure you of my loyalty and that I shall continue to do my best for the PDP as one of its leaders in the state, thanking you for the honour and sincerely look forward to working with you sometimes very soon.”

    A PDP Chieftain in the state, Mr. Biyi Poroye has applauded Alabi for taking such decision and courage which he said would save him of his political career and benefit him in the nearest future.

    Poroye berated the governor for not taking good care of old PDP members in the state in the appointments.

    He said the appointment of Alabi as SSA to the governor was an embarrassment as it betrayed the agreement the governor had with the old PDP during his defection to the party in Abuja last year.

    According to him, Alabi as a symbol of the party deserves a better appointment to compensate the sacrifices he made during Mimiko’s struggle to take over the leadership of the party after his defection.

    He said; “I want to applaud Alabi for taking such decision and courage to turn down the offer. The appointment was a complete embarrassment. It betrayed the agreement we had with the governor during his struggle to take over the leadership of the party in the state.

    “Alabi as a symbol of the party deserves a better appointment under Mimiko’s government. I will advise the governor to address this injustice in other to save him and the party from further embarrassment.”

  • Mimiko warns on NURTW polls

    Mimiko warns on NURTW polls

    Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko has warned members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to shun violence during the forthcoming election.

    The governor gave the warning yesterday at the inauguration of a secretariat on Ado-Ekiti Road in Akure, the state capital.

    Mimiko, who ruled against the “winner takes all” syndrome, urged would-be winners to accommodate their opponents and work together harmoniously in the interest of peace and development.

    He noted that the union under the leadership of its national president, Alhaji Najeem Yasin and the State Chairman, Obayoriade Oladutele, has been rebranded and repositioned to ensure peace in the country and achieve effective service delivery.

    The election is expected to hold before December.

     

     

  • Ondo 2017: APC in early search for Mimiko’s successor

    Ondo 2017: APC in early search for Mimiko’s successor

    Although Peoples Democratic Party’s Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State still has up to 2017 to occupy his plum office, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, reports that All Progressives Congress (APC) may have concluded plans to commence an early preparation and search for the right candidate to take over Mimiko’s job 

    Although Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State is not billed to vacate his current office until February 2017, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the sunshine state appears to have commenced the process of ensuring that it produces the next occupier of Alagbaka Government House.

    The Nation gathered that APC’s preparation for the next governorship election in the state started immediately after the last general election. Following its surprise defeat by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State Assembly elections, in spite of its earlier victory at the Presidential and National Assembly elections, leaders of the APC in Ondo State saw the need to start the race to the Government House early if it must oust Mimiko and the PDP in 2017.

    It would be recalled that the APC won both the presidential election and majority of seats in the Senate and House of Representatives in Ondo State duMimikoring the last general election. Specifically, the party won three out of the three senatorial seats and five out of nine House of Representatives seats in the state.

     But the ruling PDP surprisingly recovered from the shock of its earlier defeat and beat the APC in the State Assembly elections. The APC could only manage to clinch five state constituencies while Governor Mimiko’s PDP cleared the remaining 19 seats to retain control of the 24-member Assembly.

    According to Chief Collins Adebayo, the party, startled by the unexpected recovery of the ruling party, set out to find out reasons for the development and how to forestall such in future.

    Adebayo, a Chieftain of the APC in Akure, said finding by the committee saddled with the task of unraveling the sudden decline in the fortune of the party at the last election in the state, prompted the leadership of the party to urge its members towards an early start in the race to the 2016 gubernatorial contest.

    “We realised that the Mimiko-led administration have been around for a long time and they have huge capacity to deceive the people with mind blowing propaganda. That was what happened during the last State Assembly election and we see the need to forestall a repeat.

    Apart from that, two years is a very short time in politics. Before you know it, the election will happen on us and we don’t want to be caught unaware. We are resolute in our determination to free Ondo State from the shackles of this oppressive administration,” he explained.

    Intensive membership drive

    Consequently, the APC in Ondo State has commenced what it called the Continuous Membership Registration (CMR) exercise in all the 18 local government areas of the state. According to Adebayo, the exercise, now in its second month, is a huge success.

    “If we had doubt about how ready the people of the state are for the good change they are seeing all over the country, this membership registration exercise erased such doubt. You need to see how eager the people are to join our party. With this, the PDP will soon become past tense in Ondo politics,” he said.

    A statement issued by the party’s Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Adesanya, said “the Continuous Membership Registration (CMR) was informed by the influx and exodus of politicians and professionals from the LP, PDP, AD and other political parties to the APC. The defectors have realised that APC will offer a purposeful, peoples’ government in the state”.

    “We assure all members of our party, (APC), especially intending defectors, of a level playing field and equal opportunities for all aspirants. One man will not decide all candidates for all political offices like the narrative of the embattled LP. Our party would conduct primary elections for all political offices according to the party’s guidelines.

    “We are all indigenes of Ondo State, and the reality of status quo in the state has put the task on all indigenes of our dear state to salvage it from this bad and inept leadership.”

    Defection galore

    And it appears the party is already reaping from its early moves as hundreds of leading PDP members across the state continue to defect to the APC. Recently, scores of PDP chieftains in the oil-producing Ilaje Local Council Area joined the APC.

    Led by Prince Glory Okuntade, the defectors said they were leaving PDP, which they described as Egypt because of the mismanagement that they alleged the party has subjected the country to for the past 16 years it had been in the saddle.

    Aside Okuntade, other defectors included former political and party office holders, including Messrs Timi Olowofoyeku, Dele Asogbon, Ademibo Okuntade, Festus Ademuwagun, Chief Ebini Idowu and Oronla Adebanjo.

    Okuntade, who spoke on behalf of others, said they have nothing to show their teeming supporters in the coastal area as evidences of the development that their membership of PDP had brought to them.

    Former National Legal Adviser of the PDP and its governorship candidate in the 2012 election, Chief Olusola Oke, who earlier defected to the APC, while receiving the defectors, said the time has come for all Ilaje sons and daughters to dump the PDP which has brought untold hardship to the people in the country.

    “The change that has taken over Nigeria will come to Ondo State. This is the time for change in Ondo State. It is not good for this state to be in opposition to the federal government. We must be in tandem with the government at the centre. We want to take over the government both at the state and local government levels,” he said.

    Speaking in similar veins, another PDP defector and a former commissioner in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Benson Enikuomehin, said the structures of PDP in the local government and state are collapsing as its former leaders are leaving for the APC.

    A former special adviser to Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State on Environmental Sanitation, who is from Ondo State, Bola Illori, expressed his optimism that with its determination and preparation, the APC will win the next governorship election in the state.

    Ilori confirmed that the party has started mobilising new members for the party as well as pacifying aggrieved members across the state. According to him, the APC is in a better position than before to chase Mimiko and the ruling PDP out of the Government House next year.

    “I am very sure Mimiko will not produce his own successor. Anyway, there is no third time and we are set for the election. We are getting more people on our side every day; we are winning the traditional institution, winning the social institution and we are active and ready. The momentum of change is heavy in Ondo and for that we are quite sure that we are set to win. It is over for PDP in Ondo, if you look at Ondo town where the governor hails from, you will know that PDP is no more popular,” he said.

    Governorship hopefuls emerging

    Already, aspirants interested in vying for the governorship ticket of the party are emerging. Amongst them is the senator representing Ondo North in the National Assembly, Prof. Ajayi Boroffice. The second term senator also vied for the ticket in 2012. He is from the Akoko axis of Ondo North Senatorial District.

    Close sources told The Nation that in line with the party’s preference for early preparations towards the election, Boroffice would soon announce his intention to contest the governorship seat. “He is serious and ready to go all the way with his governorship ambition,” an aide of the senator said.

    Other APC chieftains allegedly interested in the governorship ticket are Mr. Isaac Kekemeke, the current State Chairman of the party, Senator Tayo Alasoadura, who currently represents the Ondo Central Senatorial District and Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, who was the party’s candidate in the 2012 governorship election.

    Party sources also added that more party chieftains, especially amongst the defectors, are also eyeing the ticket. Leading the pack, according to findings by The Nation, is Chief Sola Oke, the PDP governorship candidate in the 2012 gubernatorial contest.

    Oke, who is from Ondo South Senatorial District is banking on the party’s promise of a level playing ground for all aspirants as he enters into the race for the ticket. “Oke is the man who can defeat Mimiko and the PDP. He is the man APC need to effect change in Ondo,” an associate of the former PDP National Legal Adviser said.

  • Ambode, Mimiko seek end to doctors’ strike

    Ambode, Mimiko seek end to doctors’ strike

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and his Ondo State counterpart, Olusegun Mimiko, have called on doctors to stop using strikes to agitate for their demands.

    They made the call yesterday at the 33rd convocation of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, Ijanikin, Lagos.

     Ambode, represented by Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Demilade Alonge, said the spate of incessant and often needless strikes in the health sector had damaged the profession’s image.

    He lamented that compromising the health of millions of Nigerians, have led to “needless deaths”.

    The governor called on the Federal Government to invest more in the sector.

    Mimiko said as recognised leaders in the health sector, doctors should devise innovative and ingenious ways of expressing their grievances without punishing innocent citizens.

    “The fact that Nigeria is poorly ranked today in the health sector is a pointer to the fact that all must cooperate to reverse this unfortunate and embarrassing trend.

     “We are duty bound as the recognised leaders in the health system to develop innovative and ingenious was of expressing our grievances without punishing the innocent needlessly.”

    The college’s President, Prof. Rasheed Arogundade, said the 343 graduates were the largest so far since the college’s inception.

    He said the graduates have been saddled with independent specialist patient management.

    “In effect you will now be a part of the management of any institution where you may be called upon to manage patients.”

    Arogundade appealed to the Federal Government to reinstate the Governing Council of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) , noting that the body is the only regulatory agent of medical practice in Nigeria.

  • Boroffice: Mimiko desperate for relevance

    Boroffice: Mimiko desperate for relevance

    The senator representing Ondo North, Robert Ajayi Boroffice, has described Governor Olusegun Mimiko as an accidental critic, desperate for relevance.

    Boroffice said the governor “an exemplar of bad governance” cannot advise the Federal Government on sound economic policies.

    The senator, who was reacting to the governor’s statements during the sixth Gani Fawehinmi Annual Memorial Lecture in Akure, said the governor was using the programme to promote anti-people policies, which the late Fawehinmi fought against.

    “Governor Mimiko is an emerging accidental critic, who is desperate for political relevancy and has persistently fired shots at President Muhammadu Buhari even at the slightest chance since there is virtually no on-going activity or project in Ondo State.

    “He is advised to reflect on his new found role because it is absurd, hypocritical and likewise nonsensical for a renowned exemplar of bad governance to advise the Federal Government on sound economic policies,” Boroffice said.

    He said Mimiko was a beneficiary of the President’s sound economic policies.

    “Nigerians now testify to the significant improvement in power supply.

    “The Federal Government has unveiled an economic blueprint that places more emphasis on investment in people, education, job creation and social sectors to reduce poverty; diversification of the economy in agriculture, technology, manufacturing and entertainment; national school feeding scheme and the conditional cash transfer to N25 million poorest households in the country.”

  • Mimiko warned not to frustrate Buhari’s anti-corruption war

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State yesterday warned Governor Olusegun Mimiko and the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Olisah Metuh, not to frustrate the anti-corruption war by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    A statement by its Publicity Secretary, Omo’ba Abayomi Adesanya, said the fight against corruption was sacrosanct.

    The party said people voted for Buhari because he promised to stop corruption.

    It expressed worried at the alarm raised by the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, on the allegation that some people wanted to use the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to witch-hunt their administration.

    APC said Mimiko and his aides should not be afraid if they did not mismanage the resources.

    The statement reads: “The fight against corruption is sacrosanct and indispensable. Nigerians voted for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the presidential election, among other reasons, because President Muhammadu Buhari promised to nip corruption in the bud. Therefore any attempt to jettison the fight will amount to breach of trust on our electoral promises to millions of Nigerians.

    “Corruption has been the clog in the wheels of our economic, industrial, infrastructural, educational and human development. Therefore the need to fight it with vigour and vitality is sacrosanct and non-negotiable.

    “Nigerians’ appeal to Mr. President is to be fearless, not to be deterred and to intensify more efforts against the menace called corruption, in order to bring culprits to book.

    “We are aware of the efforts by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum Chairman, Governor Mimiko, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, PDP leadership and former ministers under the ex-President Goodluck Jonathan administration to undermine and blackmail the anti-corruption crusade of the APC-led Federal Government by tainting and painting it as selective, witch-hunt, political attack and a mere time waster. The statement credited to the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, on August 1 that some people have concluded plans to write petitions against Governor Mimiko, Jonathan’s ministers and PDP leadership to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is baseless and amount to running away from one’s shadow.

    “We advise them not to be afraid if they are not corrupt, as President Buhari, whom the public and the international community have nicknamed ‘Mr. Integrity’, will be fair and just to all in the fight against corruption.”

  • Nigeria sliding into dictatorship – PDP governors

    Nigeria sliding into dictatorship – PDP governors

    Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday morning claimed that Nigeria is gradually sliding into dictatorship under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Rising from a meeting of the PDP Governors’ Forum (PGF), held in the inner chamber of the Bayelsa State Governor’s office, Government House, Yenagoa, the governors decried the activities of the Department of State Security (DSS).

    After the meeting that lasted for over two hours, the governors led by their chairman and Governor of Ondo State, Mr. Olusegun Mimiko, condemned the alleged invasion of Akwa Ibom State Government House by the DSS.

    Reading the communiqué to journalists, Mimiko, said the action of the DSS was against the spirit, ethos, values and fundamental tenets of democratic norms and tradition especially with the existence of a duly elected and inaugurated governor of the state.

    He said: “We insist that the trend must stop henceforth. No democracy survives without a viable opposition in any part of the world and we must also remember to remind the APC members that they are the real beneficiaries of the liberal democratic ethos of the PDP.

    “We once more advise the DSS to preoccupy itself with the task of ensuring internal security and desist from daily harassing and intimidating members of the opposition.

    “We implore the international community, the civil society organisations and human rights activists to call the APC- led Federal Government to order and to insist that it respects the well entrenched democratic tradition.

    “We all have a duty to prevent what looks to us like a steady slide of this country into dictatorship.”

    Mimiko said the PDP governors were disturbed, alarmed and shocked by what he described as desecration, adding that the action of the DSS was an assault on democracy.

    He said the Akwa Ibom incident spelt doom and posed serious danger to the country’s fledgling democracy.

    He said the development was one of the continuous attempts by the APC-controlled government to stifle the opposition.

    Two governors and four deputy governors out of the 13 PDP-controlled states attended the meeting.

    The governors present at the meeting were Mimiko and the host, Seriake Dickson.

     

  • Oke to Mimiko: be prudent with bailout loan

    Oke to Mimiko: be prudent with bailout loan

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC)in Ondo State, Chief Olusola Oke, said yesterday that the inability of the government to pay its workers in the last three months had affected the economy.

    According to a statement through his media aide, Rotimi Ogunleye, in Akure, Oke said the non-payment of workers’ salary had strangled commerce, impacted negatively on the economy of the people and impeded social service delivery.

    The former governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) said abandoned projects were also on the galloping increase in the state.

    Oke said: “Let me put it on record that we ought not to have been this terribly affected if effective fund planning system and fiscal discipline were put in place and embraced by the present administration.

    “Unfortunately, this is what you get when a government decides to dwell on the expenditure side, resulting in mega spending without judicious fund planning.”

    He said succour had finally come, especially to the workers, who bore the brunt of the ineptitude of the government directly.

    According to him, in order to end the lingering crisis of unpaid workers, President Muhammadu Buhari had approved cash bailout loan for the affected states.

    The APC chieftain, however, said the bailout fund approved by the President, which he said was ready for collection, was in the interest of the workers and the citizenry.

    Oke said: “I am happy that workers will be paid their arrears and commerce will resurrect in full swing. But it comes with a burden on all of us and this is where my concern lies.

    “Besides the bailout loan scheme, Ondo State will have its own share of the $1.7billion from the Excess Crude Account and also share from N413.7 billion in fresh allocation between the states and Federal Government.

    “The fund that will accrue to the government will therefore come from three sources –  the N14,686 billion cash bailout, the 1.7 billion US dollars Excess Crude Account and N413.7 billion from the federation account.