As Councilors’ Forum Threatens To Scuttle Poll
THE decision of the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) to conduct council poll across the 18 Local Government Areas on April 23, 2016, appears to have split the rank and file of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

There is a sharp division in the party now, as some are calling for outright boycott of the election, while others are advocating for participation, to have a taste of grassroots politics, nine years after the last council poll held on December 15, 2007 by the immediate past administration of late Dr. Olusegun Agagu, who was sacked by an Appeal Court verdict on February 23, 2009.

On assumption of office on February 24, 2009, Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who had through an earlier injunction sought to restrain his predecessor from conducting the council poll, sacked all the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairmen. They eventually headed to court to seek redress.

Mimiko, who rode to power on the platform of Labour Party (LP), but decamped to PDP in 2014, had laid claim to the litigation for seven years, only to quickly set machinery in motion to hold the poll in his last year in office.

Before the announcement, the ODIEC chairman, Prof. Olugbenga Ige, who assured of the commission’s readiness to conduct the election, noted that out of court settlement has been reached with the aggrieved. He said they changed their plea from “reinstatement” at the lower courts to “settlement” at the Supreme Court. This was immediately debunked by the sacked elected officials, who threatened to frustrate any move by government.

According to the State Chairman of the APC, Isaac Kekemeke, the Central Working Committee, State Executive Committee and the expanded committee of the party have extensively deliberated on the election.

“The conclusion reached was that the election is a sham meant to trap our party. It is an illegal election about to be conducted when there is a subsisting case on the matter at the Supreme Court. Besides, Mimiko’s ODIEC is composed of LP/PDP card carrying members.

“Worse still, this LP/PDP government is highly deficient in character, integrity and fairness that it cannot be trusted to midwife any free and fair process,” said the chairman.

A former Speaker of the State Assembly, Victor Olabimtan, who aligned with the party’s stance, said the governor couldn’t be trusted with the election, if he is going to use his political henchmen.

He alleged that Mimiko is strategically planning to put his stooges across the state. “Let him try whatever he can for the council poll. The whole world can read his ulterior motives to cover up his too many crimes against the people. The ultimate power belongs to the people of the state, whom he has failed to provide employment and social amenities he promised them. He has diverted their money for self-aggrandisement and are in a hurry to ask him after he will leave office in 2017,” he said.

Nevertheless, the state Director of Media and Publicity of the major opposition, Steve Otaloro, disclosed in a statement made available to The Guardian that no decision has been taken yet by the party whether to participate in the election or not.

Otaloro emphasised that the party has the support of the citizenry, whom he said are fed up with the leadership style of the PDP and ready for the “Change mantra” in the state.

In a related development, the sacked council chairmen have threatened to scuttle the proposed poll if Mimiko fails to pay their entitlements.

The aggrieved, under the aegis of 2009 Councilors’ Forum, comprises of former elected local government chairmen and councilors of the PDP were dissolved by Mimiko in 2009.

Chairman of the forum, Yinka Akosile refuted the statement made by the ODIEC chairman that they have withdrawn the suit and amended their plea at the Apex Court.