Court puts off judgment in Agagu’s appeal 20/1/2009

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

Ondo State people will have to wait a while to know who their bonafide governor is.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Benin City, which heard the suit over the nullification of the election of Governor Olusegun Agagu yesterday reserved judgment indefinitely.

Agagu is challenging the judgment of the Election Petitions Tribunal which voided his election and declared Labour Party’s (LP) governorship candidate, Dr. Segun Mimiko winner.

The appeal was heard by a five-member panel, headed by the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Abdullahi Umar.

Justice Umar said the date for the judgment would be communicated to both parties later.

As at 7:30am yesterday, the court premises had been filled with supporters of both political parties.

Security operatives sealed off roads leading to the court.

They searched those entering the premises.

Before hearing the arguments of the parties, the court granted an application seeking for an extension of time to reply to briefs by counsel to Agagu, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the police.

The lead counsel to Agagu, Chief Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), said the strike by judicial workers affected the filing of the application, which he said was supported by a 10-paragraph affidavit.

In his brief of argument, Fagbemi said the ballot papers tendered as exhibit at the tribunal were not arranged in units or wards and that it was wrong for the tribunal to order them to be counted in bulk.

He said: “No witnesses came forward to say they have sorted out these exhibits. The tribunal did not say which exhibits contained in the 67 bags related to each unit. The tribunal without the awareness of the parties sorted out the documents. Parties did not know how the documents were sorted and the parameters used to know which one belongs to which party.

“Unused voters ‘ card were tendered. Owners of the card were alive but not called to testify. The tribunal made use of voter’s card whose ownership was shrouded in mystery.”

Fagbemi said it was wrong for the tribunal to rely on the report of the State Security Service (SSS), which he said the petitioner claimed not to exist.

“The original of the SSS report was tendered by the petitioner,” he added.

Calling on the court to set aside the verdict of the tribunal and uphold the election of Agagu, Fagbemi said there was a difference between the case of Edo State Governor Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and that of Mimiko.

He said Mimiko could not be declared governor because the election was characterised by irregularities according to the tribunal’s judgment.

Counsel to PDP, Alhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim said Mimiko failed to prove allegation of hijacking of electoral materials, thuggery and falsification of results.

He said: “One cannot run away from the fact that the petition is based on criminality from certain people. All activities were criminal activities and, therefore, the respondent could not have been returned.

“Evidences were skeletal. Few witnesses gave account of what happened. Many of the witnesses were supervisory agents. The tribunal ran from making serious findings in the issue of crimes.

“It was the tribunal that sorted out the ballot papers on polling units’ basis without parties. It is an illegal act and cannot be the basis. I urged Your Lordship to allow the appeal of the PDP. The tribunal cannot sit on its own and allocate votes to those parties in the absence of those parties.”

Lead counsel to INEC and the Police Mr. Joseph Daudu and James Cooler Idachaba supported the argument of the counsel to the PDP and Agagu.

But the lead counsel to Mimiko, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) prayed the court to uphold the judgment of the tribunal.

Olanipekun argued that the issues raised by the PDP, INEC and the police lacked merit.

“Laws are never applied in a vacuum. You cannot wish something on nothing and expect it to stand,” he added.

On the use of the SSS report which was admitted as an exhibit, Olanipekun noted that it was the PDP counsel who pleaded it.

“The SSS report admitted as exhibit which he said to be a mystery, he pleaded mystery at the lower tribunal because both parties pleaded the SSS report. In fairness, he pleaded it conclusively to be factual and most authentic.

“All the ballot papers were admitted and accordingly marked unit by unit, local government by local government.

“May we, therefore, urged Your Lordship to dismiss the appeal and uphold the judgment of the lower tribunal, and also commend the tribunal’s judges for their wise decision,” Olanipekun said.

Thank you Lord for allowing that Ondo State coffers are frozen for Agagu over the past few months have openly proved to the whole world what a liar, thief, monster and uncaring robber he is. Remove him like “jigger” from Alagbaka and let him face his nemesis.

Thank you o Lord on behalf of all the good people of Ondo State. We will continue to love and obey you now and forever. Amen.

Peace my people, it is well. The glory of the Lord will be revealed.

In God we Trust.
Iroko yi jo gba sibeeeee
No Shakkkiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnng
Mimiko o jareeeeeeee
YOU ARE A WINNER
Soon my people.

Peace

PS: Has anyone heard from Iroko Kekere?

It could be a statement of fact that Nigeria’s oil wells could dry up decades to come, and this would have been a good reason to expect so called Leaders i.e. Presidents, Governors and Statesmen in the country to rule judiciously; preserve the dwindling ecomomy and reserves, ensure that there are adequate returns for investments; ensure that alternative revenue generating ventures are sought after and implemented; not loot or waste what is available; use the present gains for national growth and infrastructure; build, provide basic amenities, good roads, export opportunities, employment channels etc… I could go on. And I am not even a Secretary or PA.

But ridiculously Agagu, the devil, will always want to potray and advertise himself as a “saint”, Agagu who is the chief culprit in wastage and looting of Ondo State coffers and every other monies that has come his way; Agagu who is nationally known to be a thief and enricher of his EFF – “evilly faithful few”; Agagu who expended over 65Billion Naira on CONTRACTS in just a few months and no proper accounting done yet; Agagu who over 5 years as governor of Ondo State has not done much to assist the common man; Agagu who gave Democracy a stab in the stomach as instructed by Godfather OBJ in “do or die” politics; Agagu who told so many lies in court and fielded fake professors who in turn committed perjury; Agagu who during his aviation days stole so much from the industry to the extent that Nigeria cannot boast of an aviation industry (not the private sector); Agagu who has the most dirty hands in Nigeria as a governor, Agagu who should rot in jail then hell… I could also go on here, but let me pause.

So this same Agagu will have the mouth to warn that Nigeria oil reserves could dry up in the next 3 decades!!!lol. AGAGU WHEN YOU STAND IN FRONT OF THE MIRROR, WHAT DO YOU BEHOLD? WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT YOURSELF? AND MOST IMPORTANTLY WHAT DOES GOD KNOW ABOUT YOU? BEWARE MR AGAGU. THE YOUTHS ARE BECOMING RESTLESS. IT IS MIMIKO AND LP THAT ARE CALLING FOR CALM AND RATIONAL THINKING IN ONDO STATE. IF NOT BY JOVE, MEND, THE YOUTHS, THE MARKET WOMEN AND MANY OTHERS WOULD FRY YOU FOR DINNER. YOU ARE PUSHING THE PEOPLE TOO FAR AND YOU NEED TAKE A DEEP LOOK INWARDS AND STOP THESE FALLACIES AND FOOLERIES. MY BLOOD BOILS WHEN AGAGU MAKES PRONOUNCEMENTS THAT CLEARLY SHOW HE THINKS THE PEOPLE ARE FOOLS.

My people in Ondo State, it is well for all is well that ends well and this matter will end well and justice shall soon be done. Not too far to go. Mimiko will be vindicated soon, the people will soon have cause to rejoice and Ondo State will be liberated in Jesus name. Peace

By Tope Temokun (Friday, 02 January 2009)

WHEN in 1993 the scion of the famed Agagu family from Iju-Odo in the old Okitipupa division, which comprised the Ikales, the Ilajes and the Ese Odos (the Ondo Ijaws) packed his portmanteau and exited his obscure official sanctum in the pioneer University of Ibadan, for a foray into the wavy political ocean on the waterboat of Ikale dynasty, he held out neither unusual charisma nor any definable political character.

But he became the deputy governor to a retired diplomat and businessman, Bamidele Olumilua, who later answered “Evangelist” and who, 10 years before then, precisely in 1983, had lost in the contest for the seat of Ondo State Central Senatorial District to Lawrence Agunbiade and headed straight for the tribunal which never read its verdict before the military take-over of December 31, 1983.

From the version the historians made us know, after Akin Omoboriowo’s appeal against the verdict of the Olakunle Orojo-led Governorship Election Tribunal had been finally determined in favour of Adekunle Ajasin in the Supreme Court on October 13, 1983, the former was offered a ministerial appointment by President Shehu Shagari, but graciously declined the offer and selflessly put forward Bode Olowoporoku’s name for the appointment.

That was when politics had philosophical taste, when politicians still engaged in philosophical fore-thoughts and political foresights prevailed before political decisions. Agagu jumped at the juicy ministerial offer by Obasanjo after he had lost to Adefarati in 1999 general elections, which apparently held out a promising financial prospect for a future governorship candidate in an era of money politics. From there he seemingly got more fortified politically and reinforced financially to return home in 2003 to incite the support of the Ikales for his reinvigorated ambition to become the governor of Ondo State.

It was a weirdly wild mammoth crowd that gathered, with pumps and pageantry, to welcome Agagu in Ode-Aye, an Ikale town, in 2003, as he toured Ikale land lengthwise for home support for his governorship ambition. When the crowd dissolved that evening, it had become clear that a governor had been made. The ethnocentric quest of the Ikales to have their son head the government business of Ondo State for the first time enkindled by the non-satisfaction of the people with the Adefarati-led government reinforced this conclusion.

Years passed and as the tale became one of unfulfilled promises and dashed hopes, tongues began to wag in disappointment among the Ikale folks, asking questions with unquenchable anger about the promised university and the promised bitumen exploitation which they thought would turn Ikale and the fate of the natives around, while Agagu’s reign lasted. These were the cardinal clauses in their unwritten contract with their son, Agagu.

While the 1983 unbridled carnage in Ondo State lasted, as the unwary party loyalists got carried away in their political calculations and devised machinations, fate silently ambushed men to claim its gory harvest in hundreds, as brothers had to raise arms against brothers, because they belonged to different sides of the political divides.

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As the entire state moved from disaster to catastrophe, the only identifiable cause to which all these were traceable was no more than the same fearful phrase of “second term,” which made ambition to clash with ambition and blood had to flow. Nowhere has it been more proven that men never learn from their past than in politics, for if men learn from their past, history will not repeat itself as it often does. So kokumo, meaning: “He will not die again,” for that was Agagu’s second name, flagged off his campaign train for a “Second Term” in office and in his wild imagination, that was the only way to make good his old promises to his people of Ikale race. Time merely changes, the rottenness that dwells in the minds of our politicians have and may not yield to change.

Mired in such dilemma, a fissure began to grow within the Ikale home supporters of the governor, this soon developed into an unbridgeable wall cleavage, which has proverbially been said that without which lizard would not gain an entrance. But those who declined to follow Agagu’s “Second Term” train had hurdles to cross.

As they chorused that “God gives us relatives, but at least we can chose our own friend,” and frittered away to queue behind Mimiko, Agagu’s perceived political adversary and a non-Ikale. On April 14 the quietude of Ikale land was invaded, as Agagu became set in his irredeemable ways of power aphrodisiac. He lost his native temper in the glitter of power trappings, and the political recalcitrants who would not recant were heavily dealt with, with what the euphoric Agagu’s scanty loyalists christened “Owo Agbara,” meaning: “The hand of power.”

And for those who were so slow to realiise the political signs and wonders of the mythical “Owo Agbara” in the early hours, in the evening of Saturday April 14, 2008, the mere mention of “Owo Agbara” evoked fears and tears from the Ikale natives because of the gory imagery it left behind in its wake.

In 1979, Ajasin as the governor of Ondo State proposed to make Wunmi Adegbonmire a Political Adviser (PA), but the latter insisted he wanted a more “substantial” job; a more definable job he meant. He was therefore appointed as the Chairman of Ondo State Investment Corporation in Akure. That was the era when people went into politics with a clear zeal for contribution.

Those idle PAs and SAs were those who were deployed in droves to Ikake townships on April 14, on behalf of Agagu, escorted by unknown and unknowable soldiers, (apology to the most respected Fela), who shot sporadically into both air and men, to create the scary and rowdy atmosphere ingrediential for their evil mission that day.

So like “Akogbatugbaka,” the proverbial farmer, who made a hundred heaps and scattered all the hundred, in search of a mere snuff box, Agagu worked his way through sheer academic hardwork and focus to the near apogee of the academic ladder known in the academia in the pioneer University of Ibadan as a doctorate degree holder in the geological extraction of the physical sciences, descended into the political scene in 1993, and became a favoured candidate for ministerial offer in 1999, returned home to get the nods of his Ikale people to become a state governor in 2003. Barely six years after, the path he ascended gloriously for an upward of 60 years is now the same path he has descended, and within six years, albeit ingloriously.

Mr. Temokun, a lawyer, writes from Lagos.

Nigeria’s oil wells may dry up in 30 years, by Agagu
Written by Dayo Johnson
Thursday, 08 January 2009
NIGERIA may be worse off in the next three decades if oil revenues are not judiciously channelled toward developing the nation, Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, has warned.
Agagu, who spoke in Akure during an interactive session with professionals in the state tagged, “An evening with the Governor,” expressed fear that the nation’s oil reserve “might dry up in the next 32 years.”

He said: ”The nation’s oil reserves which now stood at 35 billion barrels might not last more than the next three decades giving the production of three million barrels per day.”

Agagu said “it took about 65 million years for the oil the nation was enjoying today to form,” adding that was the reason some nations had intensified researches on renewable sources of energy.

The country, he warned, might be worse off in terms of infrastructure development in the next 32 years if oil proceeds were not used for the benefit of all Nigerians.

Agagu said, “The oil will last us only 32 years. If the oil dries that means there is no more money coming into states from Abuja. Before the oil dries up, we must put infrastructure in place. We need to be prudent in management of our resources.”

AGAGU DONT HAVE A FOCUS. IF HE KNOW THE OIL WELL WILL DRY IN 30 OR 32 YEARS THEN WHAT IS HE DOING WITH THE ALLOCATION GIVEN TO HIM. I AM ASHAME TO HEAR AN ELDER LIKE HIM SAYING THIS. YOUNG PEOPLE LIKE US CAN NOT SAY THIS IN THE PUBLIC BECAUSE IT IS AN EMBARASSEMENT. AGAGU GET OUT AND STOP ALL THIS RUBISH.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009 Printer Friendly Version

Ondo to stop rice importation by 2010 – Commisioner

By Femi Makinde, Akure

The Ondo State Government has said that it will stop the importation of rice by 2010.

The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forest Resources, Dr. Jibayo Oyebade, who said this in Akure on Tuesday, added that the state might begin the exportation of the commodity as from 2011.

Speaking at the inauguration of the executives of the All Farmers Association Nigeria/Ondo State Farmers Congress, the commissioner said the state government had entered into partnership with a team of Thailand experts on rice production.

He said the government had also approved the citing of the rice farms in each of the three senatorial districts in the state.

The projects, according to the commissioner, who was represented by the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, Mr. Olumuyiwa Busari, will take off on 6,000 hectares of farmland.

He explained that Thailand would finance 60 per cent of the project while the Ondo State Government would provide the remaining 40 per cent.

Oyebade added that to avoid the problem of quarantine, the experts would develop the Nigerian rice and make it to conform to the international standard.

He noted that apart from the decline in the price of crude oil, the state was planning to diversify its sources of revenue generation because oil reserves would not last forever.

Oyebade added that the projects would reduce the number of unemployed youths in the state as about 3,000 people would be needed to work on each of the three farm sites.

He also said that the project would afford farmers the opportunities to be trained on modern rice production techniques.

The commissioner commended Governor Olusegun Agagu for his efforts at reducing the impact of global food crisis on the people by ensuring that the state was self-sufficient in food production.

He called on youths in the state to enrol at the agriculture institute expected to take off this month.

He added that the institute would be run by the Leventis Foundation in conjunction with the state government.

The school, according to him, will be tuition-free, adding that the students would be paid stipends.

The President of the AFAN/OSFC, Mr. Joshua Oyedele, appealed to the state government to assist the farmers by providing additional 50 tractors to enable more farmers to practice mechanised farming.

HOW MANY TIMES OVER AND OVER HAVE WE HEARD SUCH BUT SEEN DIFFERENT. TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR SOME PEOPLE AND THEIR SHAMBOLIC TALKS.