Dr. Olusegun Mimiko

Agagu’s olive branch to opposition -Tribune

…A Subtle Media Campaign to Legitimize Stolen Mandate?

Following his declaration as winner of the last governorship election in Ondo State, Governor Olusegun Agagu has embarked on reconciliatory moves with his co-contestants to ensure lasting peace in the state. Yinka Oladoyinbo reports on the outcome of the moves.

The 2007 general elections have come and gone, but the dust raised by the controversial polls is yet to settle in many states of the federation, Ondo State inclusive. Like in virtually all the 36 states across the country, the build up to the election in Ondo State was tense with political parties laying claims to victory in the election. While there were contenders, there were also pretenders in the election. However, the frontrunners in Ondo State were the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) with Dr. Olusegun Agagu and Dr. Olusegun Mimiko as their candidates, while other political parties also presented candidates for the election.

However, that the contest was going to be between Agagu and Mimiko had manifested after the launch of the LP in December 2006. From this moment, the campaign took a new dimension with the two political parties joining issues on many occasions. Besides, their supporters were involved in clashes almost on a daily basis with injuries and scares inflicted on a number of people in the campaigns. The aftermath of the elections is the petitions by many aggrieved parties at the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Akure to nullify the result that gave Agagu a second term in office. The LP, Action Congress (AC), Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD) have all gone to the tribunal to upturn Agagu’s victory. With these, government was said to have intensified efforts at finding a political solution to the logjam in order to move the state forward. This, in the words of the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Chief Eddy Olafeso, made the governor to extend his olive branch to whoever accepts to come on board to join the governor in administering the state. Agagu, therefore, contacted co-contestants like Ademola Adegoroye of AC, Olusola Agbesua of DPA, Bankole Oluwajana of AD, Ibukun Arifalo of the ANPP, Bamidele Akingboye of DPP and Pere Ganfo of ADC.

They were said to have been involved in talks which lasted several weeks with the governor impressing on them the need to join him in his quest to move the state forward and put behind them the rivalry, bickering and all negative tendencies that characterised the elections. The talks, according to Olafeso, were frank and sincere as the governor was said to have made it clear that the task of moving the state forward could not be left to an individual. This, he said, made the candidates agree to put aside their interests and work with Agagu collectively with a view to make the state a force economically, politically and socially. Having accepted the peace moves of the governor and agreed secretly to team up with Agagu, the six former governorship candidates publicly told the country of their decisions. The occasion was the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum held in Abuja, where the people joined the governor to tell the whole world of the trend of events back home as they affect peace and tranquility in the Sunshine State. At the forum, Agagu said the people were in Abuja to show to the world that peace and reconciliation had started and have gone far in the state.

He said, “As the winner of the last governorship election, the PDP had been extending its hands of fellowship to all other contestants and political parties so that we all can match together in our journey to prosperity in Ondo State. We want to use this opportunity to appeal to other participants in the last election who still feel aggrieved to sheathe their swords and join the Ondo State train of prosperity”. However, speaking at the NAN forum Adegoroye said, “Ondo State is bigger than anyone of us and whatever sacrifice we need to make in the pursuit of peace and development of our state must be made. It is God who makes things, for one reason or the other God has brought Dr. Agagu back to power. “We all wanted to be governor, I wanted the seat, I wish I were the one sitting on the seat, but God said no to me. We are not desperate politicians, that is why my colleagues and I have decided to join Dr. Agagu.” The governor, who agreed that the strongest opposition to him during the election was Mimiko, said he had reached out to him for reconciliation, adding that those engaging in the talks were still pressing forward over it and that he had not foreclosed reconciliation with the LP candidate. Good as the attempt being made by the governor is, the belief of many people that are interested in it was that any reconciliation that does not involve the LP could at the end of the day be an effort in futility. The reason for this is not far fetched. The governorship election in Ondo State was a contest between Agagu and Mimiko with other candidates being passive participants.

This was clearly evident in the results announced by INEC. But if the response from the camp of the LP is anything to go by, attempting to lure it to a round table reconciliation talk may be a Herculean task, as it had told the governor to stop wasting time over a move that could not be fruitful. Reacting to the decision of the six governorship candidates to join Agagu, the LP believed it was an attempt to accord legitimacy to the victory of the governor. The Director of Press of the party, Mr. Kolawole Olabisi, said instead of chasing a wild goose and embarking on unnecessary jamboree, Agagu should wait for the outcome of the tribunal. He added that the governorship candidates that followed the governor to Abuja did so because they had no mandate to defend as they had a poor showing at the election. Said he: “Since the announcement of the results of the governorship election in Ondo State, Dr. Agagu has been busy telling the world why he won the election and not how he won it. He has, thus, spent more time campaigning after the election than before because of how he won. “His latest antic is to give the impression that the governorship candidates of six out of the 13 political parties which contested the April 14, 2007 governorship election in the state have seen the wisdom in accepting INEC’s manufactured results and teamed up with the PDP to work with Agagu.

The party said the six candidates did so because the statistics, from INEC results, showed that all of them put together scored a paltry 8 per cent of the total votes cast in the state during the governorship election. But Olafeso argued that the LP’s position was an attempt to misinform the people of the state over a genuine move by the governor to toe a path of peace. The commissioner, who did not see anything wrong in the efforts of the governor, said the move by the governor should be commended rather than condemned. “As usual, with the LP people, they’ve come with their misinformation. The action should be seen as that of a statesman and not that of a politician, as Dr Agagu is not a man that believes in winner takes all. The step he took was a sincere one that should be commended by anybody that wishes the state well”, the commissioner added. However, political observers believe the governor has taken a right step in order to douse tension in the state. They also commended the governorship candidates of other political parties for their maturity and show of selflessness. But the question on the lips of many stakeholders in the state is how far this move can take the state, bearing in mind that a major opposition’s frayed nerve is yet to be soothed.