MIMIKO SETS TO DEAL WITH JIMOH IBRAHIM,...AS ODSG TERMINATES OWENA MOTEL LEASE

Mimiko sets to deal with Jimoh Ibrahim:

… as ODSG terminates Owena Motels Lease

DR OLUSEGUN AGAGU,[FMR GOVERNOR OF ONDO STATE]

As you are reading this story the representatives of the Ondo State Government [ODSG] deployed from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry would have finally taken full control of the State owned Five Star Hotel, Owena Motels, Akure  from the NICON Luxury Company, owned by Chief Jimoh Ibrahim.

As at the time of filling this report some,our reporter gathered from some staffers of  NICON Luxury who have been managing the hotels for over three years  hat the state government has refused to extend the lease agreement with their company.

 This abrupt termination of the lease and refusal o extend the  agreement between ODSG  and NICON Luxury Company on the management of Owena Motels Limited, may be  a clear indication that the present administration in the state is set to dael with the Ikale born billionaire.

It would be recalled that NICON Luxury Company, which is one of the numerous firms owned by billionaire politician, Mr. Ibrahim, had an agreement with the state government during the twilight days of Gov. Olusegun Agagu to run the hotel for an initial period of three years, subject to review.

The agreement was signed on May 2, 2008 and it was expected to lapse on May 2, 2011 over two weeks ago which made the state governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, to  direct the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mr. Akin Akingbesote, to put an end to the lease.

 This made the Commissioner to  second a very senior official from the ministry of commerce to Owena Motels o Igbatoro,road,Akure  to act as the receiving manager.

The two party,thst is the NICON Luxury team ad the State government officials are already taking stocks and crosschecking available record of all the assets and liabilities of the hotel, before the agreement would be formally terminated.

Sunshine VOICE reporters also gathered that some members of staff of some of the NICO staffers who once hold sway in the hotel had since vacated their rooms and chalets within the hotel complex as some have even checked in to nearby hotels.

The workers were said to have been moved into the vacant office of the NICON Insurance complex located at Isinkan area of Akure.

 Up till the moment of fii this report both the state government and the billionaire company has not issued an official  statement on the new development.

PDP SACKED AGAGU,DISSOLVED STATE EXCO

PDP Leaders sacked Agagu and Dairo, dissolves state exco

*Constitute a 9-man interim committee.

*Abdusalam,Ehinlanwo,EddyOlafeso,Arohunmolase,kekemeke,Alasoaduratakes over party  

The crisis rocking the Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) worsened yesterday as a faction of the party, under the auspices of Leaders and Stakeholders, suspended the immediate past governor of the state, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, from the party.

Also, the members dissolved the Dr. Omotayo Dairo-led State Executive Council and resolved to constitute a nine-man interim management committee to harmonise all factions and tendencies in the party.

Besides, the members rejected the suspension of members of the party and the list of 10 names compiled for federal appointments allegedly by Agagu and Dairo.

This development came as the Chairman of the party in Akoko Northwest; Prince Alaba Arohunmolashe, said the compilation of the 10 names as nominees to President Goodluck Jonathan would not stay because the Minister of Defence, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode (SAN), who is the highest political office holder of the party in the state, was not carried along.

Arohunmolase said the action of the dissolved Dairo-led executive would not stand because it did not enjoy the support of the majority of the party supporters in the state.

Among the leaders and stakeholders that witnessed the press conference addressed at the Press Centre of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), were the immediate past Speaker of the House of Assembly, Taofiq Olawale Abdusalam, incumbent Senator representing Ondo South, Senator Hosea Ehinlanwo, former commissioners under Agagu’s government including Dr Eddy Olafeso, Isaacs Kekemeke, and Chief Tayo Alasoadura.

Others included former Chairmen of local governments; Chief Adebanbo Odoro, Charles Adeduro, Mrs Yejide Ogundipe and Stephen Olemija.

Serving legislators of the party including Fatai Adams and Princess Caroline Olubimtan were at the briefing. Former office and incumbent office holders including Chief Bamidele Adeladun, Prince Ademola Adegoroye, Demola Babalola, Akin Aruwajoye, Dr Bode Iwaloye, Dr Patrick Gbakinro and Col Tunde Awodeyi (rtd) were also present.

Briefing reporters of behalf of others, a former Special Adviser on Political Matters to Agagu, Chief Segun Adegoke, said although the decision was painful, it had to be taken in the interest of the party.

He said Agagu, as the leader, was suspended because he led the party to inexplicable and inexcusable electoral failure and for accentuating the unending crisis in the party, saying the decision had brought the party to its comatose state.

Adegoke said the stakeholders adopted the doctrine of necessity because prominent members of the party had left for other political parties due to the alleged mismanagement on the party by Agagu and Dairo.

His words: The leaders and stakeholders resolved to dissolve the state executive committee of the party in Ondo State and will set up a panel to investigate the finances of the party since February, 2009 including the over N30 million contributed by party members for the building of the state secretariat, the N10 million donated by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and all monies for the various elections in the state.

The leaders and stakeholders reject the suspension of the party members from the party without hearing and/or due process and urge the interim management committee to review all such cases. A party that is losing needs people, not fewer people.

The party leaders said it would be wrong and politically suicidal to allow the Dairo-led executive that had led the party to five electoral failures to continue in office and compound the woes of the party.

In his reaction, Dairo said the people, who were spent forces in their local government areas lacked locus standi to proclaim the state executive dissolved or to suspend any member of the party.

According to him, the list being complained about was complied with due process by the State Working Committee (SWC) and 15 leaders of the party across the state.

His words: These leaders are spent forces in their constituencies. As far as we are concerned, they are not known to our party, they are not known to the constitution because they are ex-this, ex-that, we want them to know that this is not an obaship institution where once you assume the leader, you are there for life, their local government areas have produced vibrant young men that have displaced many of these people.

These people now have no direct means of livelihood and that is why you see them becoming political jobbers. Hon Isaacs Kekemeke was a party secretary here before settling for political appointment, Col Awodeyi was Chairman and many of them like that but they have lost touch with the reality on ground now which is for them to agree that the past should remain the past.

The party chairman accused the Minister of Defence, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, of masterminding the uproar in the party, saying: Unfortunately, the Minister found good use of these idle hands who have nowhere to go, no offices to run and no serious means of livelihood, he found ready tools in them and he doled some little to them and that is the result we are seeing now.

Since these people are not members of the ward executive, local government executives and state executive, they are not known to the national secretariat anymore and whatever they do remains null and void, so we are not bothered.

The PDP chairman laid the blame of the loss of the party at the elections conducted in the state since 2009 at the doorstep of many members of the group of stakeholders, noting that for example, Chief Tayo Alasoadura, a shining light within the team, was largely responsible for the political problems the party faced in Akure South Local Government due to his high handedness.

We understand they have served us before, but we appeal to them not to visit their frustrations on us because this frustration is out of poverty.

Similarly, the deputy governor under the Agagu administration and one of the nominees, Chief Omolade Oluwateru, said the leaders and stakeholders had no right to suspend anybody from the party, adding that the list being contested was compiled with input from the SWC and some leaders of the party.

His words: They said they are dissolving the exco and who are they, what are their positions in the party? There are ways of doing this, the executive council was constituted by a congress and it is only the congress that can dissolve the executive. So, it is very wrong for a handful set of people to hire people and pronounce the exco dissolved.

Besides, Chief Supo Ijabadeniyi, a leader of the party said the decision would not stand because of the illegality of their action.

According to him, those who took the decision were on their way to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and they wanted to destroy the party before the left.

Lagos ACN Legislators meet Tinubu,rule out Defection to PDP

Lagos ACN Legislators Meet Tinubu, Rule Out Defection To PDP

HON. ABIKE DABIRI (2ND LEFT) WITH HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES-ELECT. FROM LEFT: GANIYU OLATUNDE HAMZAT, ADEBIMPE AKINSOLA AND DAYO BUSH-ALEBIOSU, WITH THEIR CERTIFICATES OF RETURN RECEIVED FROM INEC IN LAGOS TODAY, MAY 09, 2011.

LAGOS, May 09, (THEWILL) - Shortly after they collected their Certificate of Return from the state office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Yaba, Lagos, members of the House of Representatives met with the party's National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The meeting was said to have been arranged following a report that the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) lawmakers in the lower legislative chamber plan to defect to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as a condition to get the position of Deputy Speaker.

Though information on the discussions at the meeting with Tinubu was sketchy at press time, THEWILL gathered that the former Lagos State governor summoned the lawmakers to brief them on the plan of the ruling PDP to break into its rank at the National Assembly.

In their reaction to the report, the lawmakers debunked the report published in a national daily.

Speaking with THEWILL, Hon. Ganiyu Hamzat (Mushin II) simply ruled out the likelihood of ACN lawmakers defecting to the PDP, stating that the idea was unprogressive to the philosophies of the country’s main opposition party.

He said, "It cannot be true. I have not been consulted about it. I have not been contacted. The idea is at variance with the tenets and ground norms of the Action Congress of Nigeria. We cannot entertain it. By the grace of God, all my colleagues in the opposite wing will not defect to the PDP."

Also, Minority Leader of the Lower Chamber, Hon. Hakeem Gbajabiamila, said there was no such thing in the pipeline, thus wondering where the report emanated from, while he expressed the strong will of ACN lawmakers to play the role of the opposition party.

He added that if there “is a move like that being initiated by the ruling party, it is already a wasted effort. The ACN lawmakers are not under pressure to dump the party. It is unrealistic and false because our programmes and philosophies are different absolutely from that of the ruling party.”

In his reaction, Hon. Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, representing Oshodi/Isolo Federal Constituency I also said the report was speculative. He said the ACN lawmakers are positioning themselves to make meaningful input into the legislative process.

Akinderu-Fatai added that the new Electoral Act as amended did not give room for haphazard defection as contained in the report.

MIMIKO,LABOUR PARTY AND SOUTHWEST POLITICS-Abati

Mimiko, Labour Party and the South West

By Reuben Abati

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It has been pointed out that the Broom Revolution in the South West represented by the ACN in the 2011 elections takes the South West back to its original mode as the stronghold of opposition politics in Nigeria, and thus puts an end to the dominance of the People's Democratic Party in that part of the country since 2007. But whereas this has been widely remarked upon as an indication also of the South West being the only region that seems to have voted mostly for a "regional party" in nearly all the 2011 elections (except the Presidential), the analysis often overlooks how a state in the South West, Ondo, appears to be the only one that is untouched by the Broom Revolution, dominated as it is by the Labour Party. Both the ACN and the Labour Party in the South West are united in terms of one essential character: their leaders insist that they are progressives, they provide in their areas of influence an alternative to the PDP, both were determined to keep the PDP out and they succeeded in doing so, and once upon a time, the leaders of both parties worked together. There however seems to be an emerging rivalry between the ACN and the Labour Party in the South West which I think needs to be carefully managed, considering how what seems to have started as campaign-moment differences could degenerate into something unmanageable.

There have been insinuations that the Labour Party in Ondo state should dissolve into the ACN to give the South West one major political party running its affairs. Mrs Jumoke Anifowoshe, the ACN Chairperson in Ondo state has threatened that the "broom revolution of ACN would soon spread to Ondo state," a coded threat that the ACN is determined to dislodge Governor Olusegun Mimiko from Ondo state in subsequent elections, the most critical being the 2012 Gubernatorial election in the state. However, elections should be determined by the electorate, not by threats issued by politicians. Besides, those who argue that small political parties are of no use miss the key point about the democratic ideal. The thinking that small parties serve no purpose and should be de-registered or be swallowed by bigger parties defeats the idea of the political party as an aggregation of expressed needs and aspirations in civil society. The real constraint that contemporary political parties taking part in Nigeria's elections face is that they are required to have a national spread, and to win a certain number of seats in order to be considered viable.

The view has even been expressed for example, that with 63 political parties, the list of Nigerian political parties is unwieldy; on 2011 election day, so the argument goes, it was rather difficult looking for party names and logos with the ballot papers running into pages. That inconvenience should be a small price to pay for the diversity and broad choice that a multi-party system guarantees. In the First Republic, small parties made great impact in their localities, and where necessary, they went into alliances with other parties, supposedly bigger parties, in order to pursue their stated agenda in the public sphere.

The Mabolaje Grand Alliance was based in Ibadan. The OtuEdo Union's sphere of influence was restricted to Benin City and parts of Edo. There were such political parties as the Borno Youth Movement, the Igbira Tribal Union, the Dynamic Party and the Zamfara Commoners Party. The party formation process should as we seek to further strengthen Nigerian democracy recognize the potentials of so-called small parties. Indeed, the ACN, the CPC, and the Labour Party prove this point each in its own way. Besides, in the 2011 election, a small party, the Accord Party was quite prominent in Oyo state, and an even much smaller and younger party, the Ogun state-based PPN ended up with two seats in the House of Representatives. APGA's sphere of influence is restricted to the South East and yet in these elections, it wielded considerable influence in Imo and Anambra states. There were parties in the 2011 election that did not win more than 20, 000 votes in total, that should be no reason why they should be "swallowed" by bigger parties.

As at 2007, the ACN was largely a Lagos state-based party, where it won nearly all the available elective seats, including the Gubernatorial; it would subsequently gain a wider spread in other parts of the South, as it secured the Governorship positions in Ekiti, Edo and Osun through the courts, quickly turning those states into its strongholds. In the 2011 elections, the ACN proved to be the most improved political party in the country, it increased its representation ratio in the National Assembly, swept Edo state and the South West except Ondo state, and became a much stronger party in Edo, Plateau, Benue, Akwa Ibom, and Kwara states. The ACN is thus now a perfect example of how a small party could grow, bottom-up, through careful management and promotion. The CPC was formed about ten months ago and yet in the 2011 elections, it won the Gubernatorial election in one state (Nasarawa), 35 seats in the House of Representatives and about six seats in the Senate. General Buhari's personality is the driving force of that party, but it has great potential to become a much stranger political movement. It would be wrong to expect the CPC to dissolve into the PDP or its members to be encouraged to join the bigger party, and whatever may be his future plans, General Buhari would be doing a lot more good by working harder to transform the CPC into a strong opposition. This is why all things considered, it seems to stand to reason that both the ACN and the CPC have rejected offers by the PDP to join a proposed Government of National Unity.

In the 2011 elections, the Labour Party had highly visible candidates in Bayelsa state (Timi Alaibe, LP Gubernatorial candidate); and Plateau state, (Pauline Tallen as LP Gubernatorial candidate), it won state assembly seats in Bayelsa, Anambra and Plateau but it was in Ondo state that the party has put up its best performance so far. LP is only seven years old. In the 2007 general elections, the party won nine seats in the Ondo state House of Assembly, but following the determination of election petitions in that election and ordered re-runs/by elections and cross-carpeting from PDP to LP, by February 2009, Olusegun Mimiko had replaced PDP's Olusegun Agagu as Governor and the political face of politics in the state soon changed from PDP to Labour. In 2011, the Labour Party performed better winning 25 of the 26 seats in the House of Assembly, eight out of the nine seats for the House of Representatives and all three Senatorial seats. The latter was particularly dramatic, with relatively unknown candidates and first-timers, beating well established PDP chieftains. Former state Governor, Dr Olusegun Agagu lost to one Boluwaji Kunlere, Senator Bode Olajumoke and Senator Gbenga Ogunniya, both tested politicians also lost to rookies. The ACN, the dominant party in the South West was almost non-existent in Ondo state, going by the 2011 results.

The key to the Labour Party's victory is the Mimiko factor. In the 2011 elections, many voters were unimpressed by party flags or symbols; they were interested in the candidate and what he or she represents, or the performance of the particular party in power. In two years of being in office in Ondo state, the Mimiko administration has been able to connect with the grassroots, through a series of people-friendly initiatives such as the renovation of markets and the provision of basic infrastructure, improved access to healthcare and careful electorate perception management. It is the same strategy that has helped to make Babatunde Fashola, a popular Governor, and has worked also in Osun state where in less than one year of former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola's exit, the PDP has been completely routed in that state.

The similarity between Mimiko's strategy and that of the ACN is perhaps what is responsible for the competition for territory between both parties. The sub-text of this is the lingering debate over who has the best chance of emerging as the next Yoruba leader, with certain commentators suggesting that Mimiko's achievement in almost single-handedly building the Labour Party into a credible party, makes him a potential leader of the Yoruba. I think the talk about producing the next Awolowo in Yorubaland is utterly diversionary. Awarding the best prize to the best politician in the South West is not a priority for the electorate either.

Both the ACN and the Labour Party have an urgent duty to justify their victory over the PDP in the 2011 general elections in the South West through greater service delivery to the people. The ACN should seek to build on its incursion into other parts of Nigeria in order to become an effective opposition party on the national stage, the Labour Party faces the same challenge but the leaders of both parties should not in seeking more territory in the South West create needless tension, indeed, they should seek to work together on common ideological grounds, without one party threatening to "swallow" the other, and with less emphasis on personal ambitions. This point is made advisedly considering how in the lead up to the 2011 elections, the campaigns in Ondo state almost degenerated into name-calling between the leadership of the Labour Party and the ACN. Both the Chairman of the ACN, Chief Bisi Akande and Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, the leader of the ACN, were said to have dismissed Mimiko as "ungrateful" and his party as "worse than the PDP", with the LP also describing the ACN as the party of "fake progressives." Such currents tend to run much deeper in Yoruba politics

Mimiko challenged PDP Leaders over who delivered votes to Jonathan

Mimiko challenged Ondo PDP over who delivered votes to Jonathan

                          Gov Olusegun Mimiko

  Two weeks after the presidential elections, controversy over the victory of President Goodluck Jonathan in the south West is yet to abate. It was taken for granted that Jonathan who was the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) candidate in the April 16 poll would not garner much support from the South west geo-political zone.

This sentiment was understandable. The zone is the stronghold of the rival Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN). But the President won five out of the six states in the zone leaving only one to the presidential candidate of the ACN, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

Since results of the elections were declared political stakeholders in the South West, particularly in Ondo and Lagos States have been bickering over who was responsible for Jonatha’s victory in the two states. Ondo is governed by Governor Segun Mimiko of the Labour Party( LP) while Lagos is controlled by the ACN.

In the forefront of these claims and counter claims in Ondo State are Labour Party Chairman Olaiya Oni, Minister of Defence Adetokunbo Kayode and of course the PDP leadership in the state. Shortly after the election results were made public, the LP chairman, in Ondo state, told news men that his party mobilized the state for the President. Therefore, the credit for the PDP presidential candidate in the state should be given to his party and not the Presidents party men in Ondo. The LP which did not field any candidate for the presidential poll had adopted Jonathan as its presidential candidate.

Dr Oni said PDP lost woefully to LP in the April 9, National Assembly elections. During the build up to the presidential election, PDP members neither mobilized their members nor came out on the election day with their agents.

It was as if they abandoned President Jonathan to us. If they have come out and mobilized the people like we did, Jonathan would have scored more votes. But the PDP top hierarchy in the state said nothing could be farther than the truth.

A party chieftain in the state, Mr Sunday Oyepetan said it is mischievous for the LP to be claiming credit for Jonathan’s victory in the state. He said it was equally wrong for the Minister of Defence, Mr Adetokumbo Kayode to be laying claim to solely mobilizing the state for the president.

Oyepitian said it is worthy of note that out of the 385,376 votes scored by President Jonathan in Ondo State, 197,291 votes (51%) came from the southern senatorial district, where Dr Olusegun Agagu hails from; 99,726 votes (25.7%) came from the central senatorial district, where Governor Olusegun Mimiko hails from and 90,359 (23%) came from the northern senatorial district, where the Minister of Defense Adetokunbo Kayode hails from.

 Contary to Oni position, that there no PDP agents to man the polling units for the President during the election, Oyepitan said it was the LP agents that were absent during the election. He challenged any one in doubt to cross check from the electorate if LP agents were at the polling units or collation centre to sign the result sheets.

He added that in Ondo West Local Government Area home of the self-acclaimed election mobilizer Governor Mimiko could only bring out 25,463 out of the 125,467 registered voters during the Presidential elections as against the 36,742 he scored for his LP during the National Assembly elections. From the foregoing we can all imagine the extent of massive mobilization that the Labour Party did for Mr President to win, the party chieftain stated.

He said if anything, LP members worked for other parties in the presidential election. The votes that the ACN, CPC and other parties scored during the National Assembly elections increased during the Presidential elections. For emphasis, the ACN scored 64,000 votes during the National Assembly elections while it witnessed a growth in the Presidential elections where it scored 74,253 votes, the CPC, a party which has only a marginal presence in Ondo State scored 3,795 votes during the National Assembly elections but scored 11,830 votes during the Presidential elections. Other parties of little consequence that did not score any votes at all during the National Assembly elections now scored 18,187 votes during the presidential elections.

Also, the party stalwart said contrary to the impression being created by the Minister of Defence, that he single handedly delivered the votes of the state to the president, the Minister only attended one rally in Akure and another in Ikare throughout the campaign and election period. It is on record that he did not visit any of the 18 Local Government Areas of the state during the campaigns except his own local government, Akoko North West. He did not consult with any traditional ruler, religious leaders, youth or women group, the party stalwart added.

Similarly, the Ondo State PDP Youth Leadership Forum said the president’s victory in the state was the outcome of collective efforts of party leaders in the state who worked tirelessly to mobilize the state for the president. In a statement made available to Daily Sun and jointly signed by Messrs Elegbeleye Rasheed and Kolawole Femi, said the presidents victory has nothing to do with the alliance between Kayode and Governor Mimiko.

Also, in Lagos State , the chairman of the PDP , Mr Setonji Koshedo said it is wrong for the ACN in the state to claim credit for the success the party recorded in Lagos during the presidential election. Koshedo told journalists in Lagos that the ACN state publicity secretary, Mr Joe Igbokwe had at a television programme claimed that his party mobilized the state for Jonathan. In his view, the ACN couldn’t have mobilized the state for the PDP, especially as it has its candidate in the election.

As the controversy over who delivered the Ondo and Lagos states votes to Jonathan continues, one thing is clear, the president is happy that he proved bookmakers wrong by winning the South west votes.

This report as culled from The SUN newspapers

Welcome to Our World [The Blogsite of Sunshine VOICE]

  Sunshine Voice Blog is the online version of the Sunshine VOICE weekly tabloid that is going to be the voice of change.
A provincial news magazine devouted to report political news in Ondo State and as well cover political activities across the entire South West on Nigeria.
It is aimed at given an unbiased report to the people.The team are crops of young progressive minded  creative writters,journalist and researchers with biase for political developments in Ondo State and by extention Nigeria.
With the birth of Sunshine voice  the political landscape will not be the same again.The publishers and editors promise to give voice to the voiceless.

GOKE OLUWOLE a versatile,radical and dogged journalist with an undying passion for grassroots journalism was carefully chosen to lead the EDITORIAL SQUARD as the EDITOR-IN CHIEF of the Sunshine VOICE Weely.