… Says defections driven by calculation, not coercion

… Hails Tinubu for rescuing Nigeria’s economy

… Lament Ondo’s infrastructure, social services deficits amid increased allocation

The governorship candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) in the 2024 gubernatorial election in Ondo State, Dr Abass Mimiko, has dismissed claims that President Bola Tinubu is responsible for the crisis rocking opposition parties in Nigeria.

While stressing that the president should not be blamed for what he described as internal failings within the opposition fold, Mimiko described the allegations that Tinubu is stifling opposition as baseless.

According to the psychiatrist and younger brother of former Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who spoke with newsmen at his Ondo residence during a media chat, governors and political actors defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were doing so out of conviction and political calculation rather than coercion.

The ZLP chieftain argued that Tinubu’s democratic credentials remain unmatched, recalling his role during the struggle to reclaim electoral mandates allegedly stolen in Ondo, Ekiti, Osun and Edo states as examples where Tinubu allegedly played a frontline role in supporting legal and political battles that restored opposition victories.

With Mimiko dismissing the purported fears that the country was drifting towards a one-party state, he stressed that opposition figures such as Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso remain active voices in national discourse.

The former governorship candidate maintained that the removal of the fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira had stabilised fiscal parameters and boosted confidence in the economy.

Mimiko also advocated decentralised policing as the most practical solution to the country’s security situation, maintaining that communities should be empowered to police themselves through properly trained state and local security structures.

“The first thing Nigerians must interrogate is the state of the nation before President Tinubu took over. He inherited an economy that had virtually collapsed.

“We were using over 95 per cent of our earnings just to service debt. If a man digs you out of a 5,000-metre hole and gets you to where you can see sunlight again, the honest question is not whether life is immediately perfect but whether you would even still be standing without that intervention,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Mimiko noted that more could be done in the infrastructure deficits of Ondo State, considering the increased federal allocations now available to states.

According to him, the state had yet to match the developmental trajectory witnessed under the Mimiko administration, particularly in healthcare, education and social services.

“States that were receiving less than N10 billion monthly are now getting close to N40 billion in some cases. With that kind of revenue increase, citizens should be seeing measurable improvement in their lives.

“The percentage increase in what states now receive is multiple times the percentage increase in fuel prices. Nigerians should be asking their governors what they are doing with these resources. Why are these monies not visibly improving the lives of ordinary citizens?”

He, however, commended the state government’s push for the proposed seaport and bitumen development initiatives, describing them as bold long-term projects that should be given time to mature.

While expressing concern over the issue of vote-buying during elections, Mimiko insisted the ZLP remains vibrant across Ondo State and beyond, dismissing fears of deregistration, disclosing that the party was currently focused on voter education.