Dr. Olusegun Mimiko

Daily Sun, Tuesday, February 13, 2007

For threatening to unleash the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against the Labour Party governorship candidate in Ondo State, Dr Segun Mimiko, President Olusegun Obasanjo, has betrayed the confidence reposed in him as father of the nation, according to the National Chairman of the Labour Party, Mr Dan Nwanyanwu.

Nwanyanwu also threatened that the party would soon go to court to checkmate the second-term ambition of Ondo State Governor, Chief Segun Agagu, whom he described as “the worst governor in the South-West.”

Nwanyanwu, who expressed his strong displeasure at President Obasanjo’s recent indictment of the Labour Party’s governorship candidate in Ondo State, Dr Segun Mimiko, said the party would soon “open a can of worms” that will nail Agagu.

President Obasanjo had, during the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) campaign rally in Akure, described Mimiko as very corrupt and threatened to send the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after him.

According to the president, he had urged Mimiko to jettison his governorship bid and support Agagu’s quest for a second term only for the former housing minister to reject his advice and pitch his tent with the Labour Party.

But reacting to the president’s statement in Abuja, Nwanyanwu said Obasanjo’s threats against Mimiko only confirmed the claims in many quarters that President Obasanjo has reserved the commission for his political opponents only.
Nwanyanwu, who said his party had a zero tolerance for corruption, however, said it would reject the use of the EFCC for intimidation and harassment of people who did not share the president’s views on political matters.

“Obasanjo has betrayed the confidence reposed in him as a leader and father of the nation by plotting against his former minister whom he described as a dedicated and loyal man, but just because he decided to quit his government and join another party, then suddenly he has to become a victim of EFCC even when there are no charges against him bordering on corruption or any form of financial crimes,” he said.

“The worst governor in the South-West is the Ondo governor. We have kept quiet for this long because of our philosophy on politics of issues. We tried to avoid discussing personalities but issues. However, Chief Agagu has decided to dance naked in the market and he has no hiding place. From what Mr President said, it showed that he (Agagu) had fed Abuja with lies concerning our candidate and we will prove to him that the age long adage still holds water that those who live in the glass house should not throw stones. It is a matter of time. Labour Party will go to court to stop Governor Agagu. We have the facts and we are battle ready for him,” Nwanyanwu further stated.

Continuing, he said: “We challenge them to come out with any evidence against our candidate. We didn’t just adopt people as our candidate, we screened them and Dr Mimiko is one of those that were thoroughly screened even by security agencies.”

The national chairman stressed that it was not in the spirit of the nation’s developing democracy to take advantage of the high pedestal of the president’s office to intimidate, scare other parties and their candidates from effective participation and contest in the 2007 general election.

Said he: “It is pertinent to remind the president that beyond being the leader of the PDP, he is the president and father of the whole nation. He owes it a sacred duty and responsibility to all Nigerians to ensure a level playing field devoid of executive intimidation and blackmail of rival political parties and candidates even if for nothing but posterity.”

The statement by the president, said Nwanyanwu, turned out to be inflammatory and inciting, as it has generated tension in the state less than 24 hours after the president made the remark. On the other hand, the party boss declared that the remark had in a way become a blessing in disguise for Dr Mimiko as it has equally generated unprecedented sympathy solidarity from the people that mattered in the state.

The Labour Party leader was of the view that President Obasanjo might have been overwhelmed by the kind of support Mimiko had gathered since he left the PDP, noting that the Ondo people had already made the work of the EFCC easier by accepting Mimiko in place of Governor Agagu.

“What the Akure episode made clear is that the president constantly interferes with the job of the EFCC. As much as the Labour Party still has considerable confidence in the EFCC, the utterances of the president is not only inflammatory and unfortunate but meant to call a dog a bad name in order to hang it. It also goes to show that the PDP has failed woefully to meet the yearnings of the people of the state for desirable change from inept leadership to an active one. Mr President must watch his utterances in order not to cause mayhem in parts of the country through his unguarded statements.”

The conduct of President Obasanjo, according to the Labour Party chairman, was against the code of conduct for political parties which the parties signed with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in conjunction with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to the effect that the parties and their candidates should address issues during their campaigns and political rallies rather than attacking personalities of rival candidates to avoid introducing or injecting bad blood that would have the tendency to engendering violence.

Nwanyanwu wondered why the PDP was scared of being confronted by the verdict of the electorate on a level playing field since it had so many things that other parties could not boast of, such as finance, executive leverage, support from security agencies and incumbency advantage.

Via Odili.net: http://odili.net/news/source/2007/feb/13/810.html