Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko spoke with reporters in Akure, the state capital, on the protracted Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) crisis, the controversy over the substitution of Mr Eyitayo Jegede’s name with that of Chief Jimoh Ibrahim and his expectations from the pending litigations.
HOW do you intend to resolve the crisis currently rocking Ondo PDP?
It is important to thank my good people of Ondo State. I want you to be rest assured that I appreciate you; because you have comported yourselves in very commendable way. Your peaceful, but resolute resistance in the last three and half weeks would go down in history as one of the hallmarks of democracy in the new Ondo State.
You are all aware of the bizarre development in the body politics of this state in the last three weeks. If you will recall, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was elected in an open, free primary monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and all the security agencies. But, suddenly we woke up on October 27, 2016 to find out that the name has been substituted with that of somebody who as at that time could not lay claim to being a member of the party and whose primary was conducted outside the geographical enclave of Ondo State; specifically in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. None of the agencies like INEC, the SSS and other security agencies witnessed the contest. So, there is no question about the fact that what happened on October 27 was a contrived conspiracy of sort; because the decision of INEC cannot find comfort in justice, in principle, in law and in morality. But, I want to assure our people in Ondo State, especially, the PDP (now I am talking as a leader of the party in the state) that we will leave no stone unturned to ensure that we get justice. Let me again appeal to you that while you’re demonstrating your resistance to this injustice, you must ensure that you keep the peace. It is the peace that God has granted us in this state that has engendered the development that we have enjoyed in the last eight years. I beg of you, we must remain peaceful.
The election is two weeks away. In your view, what is the way forward and what hope for your candidate and your supporters?
Let me repeat what I have said again; the injustice will not stand. Eyitayo Jegede will contest the election on the platform of the PDP. I’m talking as a leader of the PDP in this state and also with what is on ground in terms of what Eyitayo is bringing on board. I don’t have any doubt in my mind that he will be the next governor of the state.
When you met President Muhammadu Buhari over the matter recently there were insinuations that you have gone there to parley with him, possibly to cross over to the other side of the divide…
You know that in politics conspiracy theories abound. Let me go back to what happened on October 27. The substitution of Jegede’s name by INEC was a joke from the blues. You live in this state, you saw the spontaneous reaction of the people. Like I said, we did not see it coming; the decision can find no comfort in law, in the guidelines of INEC itself. This is a situation where somebody without INEC, without security went to Ibadan to conduct primary, then brought some controversial court order and declared the candidate and what this means is that somebody can go to Enugu or Onitsha; he doesn’t even have to be a citizen of Ondo State, bring an order to INEC and it will substitute a duly-elected person. It was something bizarre, something abnormal, something without precedence in politics and because of the provocative nature of that decision and because it was not based on any law or guideline, the appropriate person to see is the President, because he is the chief law officer, the chief executive or the chief security officer of the country. I have no cause to doubt him. It wasn’t about the APC or the PDP. It was about the President being the chief security officer of the nation. If I as the chief security officer of my state sense danger ahead, in terms of something that can truncate the peace in the state, I believe I have that responsibility and I had a very encouraging response from Mr President.
So, it’s not about crossing over…
No, it’s not about party at all. I’m in PDP…. by the way I also heard a lot of rumours making the rounds about me going to the APC or making alliances with other parties. There’s nothing, absolutely nothing like that. I want to assure the people of this state, I want to assure all members, officials of the PDP that Eyitayo Jegede will contest this governorship election as the candidate of the PDP. I have no doubt about it, and again like I said earlier on, we’ve been here for sometime; we know our people and they know us; they know what we’ve put on ground, they know our challenges and they know what Eyitayo (Jegede) is capable of doing to advance the cause of development in this state. As for me, I have no doubt in my mind that Eyitayo Jegede will be the next governor and that John Ola Mafo will be the next deputy governor of this state.
What are the achievements of your adminisration since you came on board?
One thing is that while politics is going on, we have not in any way stopped governance itself. You all know that in this state, all the signs of good governance are on, the shuttle buses are running, the Mother & Child Hospitals are running, our other hospitals are running, our cities remain clean, the environmental officers are up and doing, the state is running very well. There is security, the security agencies are at work. In fact, governance is ongoing. As I speak with you, some of our capital projects are going on. You will recall that recently we embarked on rehabilitation of Owo/Ikare road; that has been completed now. As I speak with you, we have concluded arrangements to bring down the Oke-Alabojuto in Ikare – to expand that road and ensure that at the entrance in Ikare, in terms of the road is modern and befitting. We are into many other things. The road that will link Irele with Okitipupa, the Ayeka bridge and the extension of the road is ongoing. Many of these capital projects are ongoing. The mega schools are in different levels of completion. For instance, the Igbekebo, the Arogbo Mega Schools are being completed. I want to assure the people that we will continue to work until the last day and our prayer is that we will also handover to Eyitayo Jegede, who will also continue and expand and deepen the development paradigm that we have embarked upon in the last eight years.
What are you doing to mobilise the people, to ensure that sustainability and continuity are really brought to the front burner in ensuring development and progress?
Let me first of all appreciate you for acknowledging the fact that our programmes are targeted at people, because in the cacophony of political sloganeering, people may actually not know that the import of all of these is about the people. Any policy that does not contribute and add direct value to the people is not worth it and you will look through all our programmes, is it urban renewal, health, education – everything is targeted at how to ensure that we add value to the lives of our people and I keep saying this, especially those that need the help of government most are the people at the lower rung of the ladder. For instance, some people cannot afford to transport their children to school; you will remember the spectacle a few years ago where we have between four/five school children on Okada – afternoon and morning; those are the people that need help. Our free shuttle is targeted not only at the poor, but the people as a whole. But specifically those that need more assistance are those disabled by the social arrangement. The people who need government are people who will continue to bleed to death from pregnancy, because they can’t afford decent hospital care. The people who need government are people who cannot afford tertiary education for their children, because they are asking them to bring N250,000, N350,000 – these are people who actually need government and I can’t tell you that the most important sustainability factor of any programme is to have the buy-in of the people; and if a programme is about the people you can take the buy-in for granted.
Where did you derive the passion for supporting Jegede?
In the last almost eight years we have worked very hard to change the story of this state, from a provincial setting to one that is coming to benchmark many programmes, not only for Nigeria but Africa. When development issues are being discussed in Nigeria today, Ondo State definitely has a place. We have done a lot to bring about peace; we have done a lot of gender development; we have done a lot to ensure that the people are proud to be Ondo State indigenes. When we started the Dome Project, our vision was very clear; we said we wanted to make Ondo State the number one event destination in Nigeria. We are not there yet, but we will get there. This vision that is unfolding before us is not completed yet. Let me give you an example; we looked at industrialisation for instance and we did a very thorough forensic analysis of what became of the industries that existed in this state before. After the analysis, we thought we wanted to do something about power; that was even before reforming the power sector and we signed many MoU’s and even the power purchase agreement, which is so complex, so complicated, with some private sector operatives. When the Power reform started around 2011 or so, we decided to take the bull by the horn and let us set up our full independent power project. We decided to put it in Ore because of the strategic advantage of Ore; which is just a few hours from Lagos, the biggest market in Africa. Again, Ore because it is sitting in the middle of the country between the East and West or even going to the North you have to go through Ore. We predicted that if we can put that there, industries will work on their own feet to Ore park; and we started. That power plant, the turbines have been installed and it is the first tri-fuel powerplant in Africa. Everything is set; what we are agreeing now is make sure that we get gas into the place. When this is completed (it is about 85 to 90 per cent completed), industrialisation will just come and sit. I was sitting somewhere and somebody says he will revamp all the industries that are dead in Ondo State, I just laughed because they don’t know what they are talking about. But in reality, the facts on ground, there are some critical steps that must be taken. We have taken that critical steps. Tayo Jegede is part of all these processes; Tayo Jegede is all about the thinking that went into the Dome, into the power plant and into the larger industrial city. All of these and we need somebody who knows all of these; who has a competence and who has the heart of the people to continue to drive it. That is why I am passionate about this candidate. He is a guy that has a very good heart, so he will drive this state very well.
What is your message to the people?
Again, let me greet my people of Ondo State, I’m very proud of you. I thank you for your support and I thank you for your confidence all the time. I’m not perfect, but somehow you have given me your support in spite of my shortcomings. You have demonstrated time and time again that you have confidence in me and this administration. I must thank you for all your support and all your prayers. I can touch the prayers, I can feel you. I want to thank you and I want to assure you that I will continue to provide leadership for you. In every season, in spite of challenges of the moment, no matter how critical those challenges are, your interest will continue to be the number one driving force of all activities and all decisions and all choices that I make as your governor. Three weeks ago, we have this incredible challenge, this provocative ruling of INEC, but you have kept the cool, you have shown that you can demonstrate principle and resistance without actually going violent. I want you to continue along that path; there’s nothing to benefit, absolutely nothing to benefit from violence. Have confidence that as your governor I will ensure that that injustice is redressed and that it will not stand. Tayo Jegede will contest this election along with others from other parties. All the candidates, including that of the APC, the AD and others will contest this election. I know what I know that Tayo will win anyway, but one thing I want to appeal to all of us is that we must be peaceful; we must go about our electioneering process in a very civilised manner. We must avoid planning to rig election. Removing somebody’s name from the ballot unjustifiably is technically the beginning of rigging, but like I said we resist that and it will not stand, justice must be done in that case. Even when the name is restored and we go into the real election, let’s comport ourselves in the most civilised manner; we should avoid thuggery, intimidation, ballot snatching and all of that. Let’s have a clean election like we had in 2012 and I’m sure by the grace of Almighty God Ondo State will continue to develop, move in leaps and bounds. We will eventually be the leading state in Nigeria.
Let me also thank the press, because in all of these, the story you tell to the people and the way you colour it can actually cause a breach of the peace. I have monitored the press in the last three weeks of this crisis and you have been very forthright, honest and very responsible in the way you have handled news and I must thank you because you are part of our success story.
I also appreciate the security agencies, they have been so wonderful – the Police, the SSS, the Military, the Civil Defence; they have handled the affairs of security in the state in the most responsible manner. I have to thank them and I want to assure them that as government we will continue to partner with them to ensure peace and I also want to let them know that there will be challenges ahead, but they must continue to stand up to ensure that they protect lives and property in Ondo State.
