Feb 23rd, 2009
Mimiko is Ondo State Governor, Agagu out! – Appeals Court (updated)
Step by Step account of events at Appeals Court:
* 12.50 PM– Dr Olusegun Mimiko declared the duly elected Governor of Ondo State
* 12.43 PM– Results resolved in favour of Dr Mimiko
* 12.32 PM– Judges analysing the votes and results
* 12.29 PM– 10 out of 11 issues involved resolved in favour of Mimiko, 11th in progress
* 12.09 PM– Charts detailing the irregularities submitted by LP issue resolved in favor of Mimiko
* 11.49 AM– Issue of unused voters cards, and voters register resolved in favor of Mimiko
* 11.26 AM– Olaitan Ayeni, an aide to Agagu hurriedly left the court room
* 11.23 AM– Political officers signing result forms resolved in favours of Mimiko
* 11.10 AM– Evidences admissibility resolved in favours of Mimiko
* 11.05 AM– SSS report favors of Mimiko
* 10.58 AM– Issue of ballot paper counting resolved in favor of Mimiko
* 10.20 AM– First casualty of the day, INEC’s case thrown out.
* 10:12 AM – Reading starts
* 9:56 AM – Judges arrived.
* 8:55 AM – Mimiko and the National Chairman of Labour party arrived the court premises greeting both LP and PDP party supporters.
Some details:
n an unanimous judgment which lasted three hours, read by the President of the Court, Justice Umaru Abdullahi, the Appeal Court upheld the decision of the Election Petitions Tribunal which nullified the election of Dr. Olusegun Agagu of the PDP and declared Dr. Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party as winner.
The Court held that although there were irregularities in certain units of the Local Government, it was not enough to nullify the elections as the Labour Party candidate still scored the highest number of votes cast in the election.
The Labour Party candidate, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko was present in Court along with top officials of the party. The PDP was represented by a few Commissioners.
In upholding the election, the Court ruled that Dr. Mimiko scored twenty five percent of the votes cast in Twelve of Eighteen Local Government Areas with a total of 195,000 votes as against Dr. Agagu’s 135,000 votes.
The Appeal of the PDP candidate therefore failed and all Twelve Grounds were resolved in Dr. Mimiko’s favour.
The Judges also criticized INEC and asked the body to maintain neutrality at all times.
Meanwhile, the street of Akure, the capital of Ondo state are agog with celebration with supporters of Dr. Segun Mimiko spilling out unto the streets with songs of praises. The celebrations started immediately news of the verdict filtered into the state.
88 Responses to “Mimiko is Ondo State Governor, Agagu out! – Appeals Court (updated)”
THANK YOU FOR GIVING US THIS DAY OH LORD.
THANK GOD FOR GIVING US FREEDOM.
Truth and justice prevailed finally. Spend this political capital wisely Governor Mimiko.
congratulation to the people of ondo state
ALHAMDULILAHI, I NOW SEE THAT SURELY THERE IS HOPE, NO MATTER THE BILLIONS SPENT IN HIDING THE TRUTH, LIGHTNESS WILL ALWAYS OVERCOME DARKNESS NO MATTER HOW SMALL IT IS.
MIMIKO IS INFACT THE MAN TO WATCH OUT FOR, ANOTHER BRF IN THE MAKING
sure about this result
The only hope of common man in Nigeria seems to be our justice system.Congrats Mimiko.
Governor Mimiko will need no second telling. God has made him tarry to learn real lessons and woe betide any corrupt idiot who tries to come to Ondo State to tarnish the image of our longsuffering governor.
Praise agian to God who did this for us. AMEN.
CELEBRATE O MY PEOPLE. VERY WORTH CELEBRATING.
IDE WA TU, IDE WA TU ALLELUIA A DELE AYO.
I WILL SING UNTO THE LORD A JOYFUL SONG, I WILL PRAISE HIS NAME FOR THE LORD IS GOOD.
WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS IN ONDO STATE.
It has been a very long vigil, my people. You are great!
What happened over this last 20-30 months is ground breaking and will be recorded in the annals of history of Nigeria.
Thank you for your support!
ADMIN, YOU MUST KEEP THE WEB GOING, NOW EVEN MORE THAN EVER. WE NEED A PORTAL TO ACCESS ONDO STATE AND TELL THE WHOLE WORLD THAT THIS JOURNEY HAS NOT BEEN IN VAIN FOR THE PEOPLE OF ONDO STATE.
WELL DONE AGAIN.
Up Mimiko, Labour Party for live!!!
I congratulate His Excellency, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko on his triumphant victory at the court of appeal today.
Long live Ondo State.
Long Live Dr. Olusegun Mimiko
Long Live Labour Party.
Long Live AAUA (Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko).
Thank Goooooood! Congrats ALL. Let’s pray to God that Mimiko will perform o.
Weeping may endure for a night… Joy comes in the morning.
Just want to congratulate you on your triumphant victory at the appeal court today. Want you to have it at the back of your mind that you’re very important to this generation, a vital part of the future you have been ordained to live to put smile on the people’s face. The world awaits you. We believe in you. Congratulations!!!
Long live Adekunle Ajasin University.
Long live Labour Party.
Long Live Ondo State.
Long Live Nigeria.
FRANCHISE CARES@WELFARE AAUA
A well deserved victory,the time is up for all power hungry,corrupt leaders.There shall be a revolution in Nigeria.God bless the people of Ondo state and God bless Nigeria!Time for good governance is here.
To all that stood beside Gov Olusegun Mimiko, I say thank you because you are all very loyal. You stood behind the principle that every vote must count. That the days of God politics is over so should OBJ be. To be honest, I never believed in the Nigerian justice system. But today is not the day to honour Mimiko, but a day to honour the Appeal Court Judges who stood in gap for justice. God Bless our Appeal Court Judges. God Bless you all, God Bless the People of Ondo, God Bless Mimiko.
Good to hear that, at last. Ondo state can now rejoice
Now that the good news has set in a bit, I can hear the lyrics of Jesse King’s last track in his album “Buga” saying:
“mo wa dupe, awa sope…”. Sweet Victory, amazing Grace, Good is our God.
May peace continue to reign in Ondo State. For the people have been through a lot. Agape
God bless all you God-fearing, Ondo State loving people. Dr. Mimiko has no choice than to lead in the right direction, some of us, by prayer and actions, will make sure no psychophant has any space in his administration.
Admin, good job , and hope to meet you one day.
Again , remain blessed.
congratulations!!! victory at last, 21 months of waiting for victory;this should really humble mimiko because God is the only who bring down and set up whosoever he want.my advice to the governor is that he need to be patience and SERVE HIS PEOPLE.that is the purpose why God brought him to power.God never bring a man to power for himself but for his people.
THANK GOD FOR EVERYTHING ESPECIALLY THIS VERDIT.IT IS VICTORY FOR DEMOCRACY.DOKI,CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN IT SHOWS ONDOS DORGEDNESS FOR ACHIEVEMENTS.AIO O DUDO AGBE DEDEWA O .WE A SUBU O NAGBAA LORUN.ASE O FE.
As a true friend of Ondo state and a man of Justice, i strongly believe that God will turn this country round for good even when the evil doers believe in the god, they will fail. Mimiko should now look back to were he was before now and put things right having it at the back of his mind that ONE DAY HE WILL LEAVE THE OFFICE if not like this but one day. So lets do what is right not for today but tomorrow. Segun Agagu i av a vacance for an adminirator in my office u can apply oo no interview for you!!!
Iroko na the correct man for the job now. Please leave a mark… Remember a good name is rather to be chosen than riches…. We dey your back.
God bless you..
Let me be the first citizen of Ondo State to congratulate our dear Governor,His Exellency,Dr.Rahaman Olusegun Omo Mimiko.Bi iro ba lo logun odun,ojo kan lotito yio ba.Congrats my dear brother.
It is a new dawn bringing fresh hope for the entire people of Ondo State. God we are grateful. We can’t wait to have Iroko sworn in tommorow 24th Feb, 2009.
We will be part of the new Ondo State.
Great is thy faithfullness O Lord my father,
There is no shadow of turning in you…
@Admin: Good job.
IROKO Baba Igi Ur GREAT!!!
Congrat
RULE WELL. LIVE WELL
Cogratulations ! its a victoriy well deserved,a honour to whom it is due and a great previledge to serve your own people.
FIRST REPORT OUT OF MANY TO COME: NATION ON LINE:
Court of Appeal affirms Dr. Olusegun Mimiko of Labour Party Governor of Ondo State 23/2/2009
After a gruelling 22-month legal battle, Labour Party’s (LPs) standard bearer, Dr. Olusegun Rahman Mimiko, yesterday emerged the governor of Ondo State.
The Court of Appeal, sitting in Benin, Edo State, held that he was the duly elected governor in the April 14, 2007 polls.
In a unanimous decision, the Presiding Justice Umaru Abdullahi upheld the verdict of the State Election Petition Tribunal which last July 25 nullified the election of Governor Olusegun Agagu.
Affirming the tribunal’s verdict, Justice Abdullahi ordered Agagu to vacate the Government House, Alagbaka, Akure, immediately for Mimiko.
Justice Abdullahi ordered that Mimiko be sworn in by the Chief Judge, Justice Gladys Olateru Olagbegi.
There was wild jubilation in Akure, Ondo State, the hometown of Mimiko, and Benin immediately after the verdict.
Supporters of LP and the Action Congress (AC) trooped out in large numbers to celebrate what they described as “another electoral victory” for the progressives.
They expressed the hope that the parties would win more governorship seats in states where they are challenging the election of the incumbent governors.
Congratulations Dr. Olusegun Mimiko! Victory is a result of hard work and the grace of God… My advise for our new governor is to make his government a performance driven one and lay much emphasis on project management so that change can come to our dear land. We thank God for this. Long live Ondo State.
Congratulations!!! Dr. Olusegun Mimiko. Victory is a result of hard work and the grace of God… My advise for our new governor is to make his government a performance driven one and lay much emphasis on project management so that change can come to our dear land. We thank God for this. Long live Ondo State.
God be the Glory
Yes, I Believe
Thank God for the victory at the appeal court.
This victory is well deserved and I pray the grace for good
leadership is bestowed upon you.
Congratulations.
Iroko jo!
Ta lo dabire (2x)
Ninu gbogbo alagbara laye
Ta lo dabire Oluwa
All I can say is thank you God and to you all good people who have contributed in one way or the other to make today a reality.
I wish to encourage Governor Mimiko to settle down and meet the needs of the good people of Ondo-State who had suffered under the fallen Agagu administration. God bless our governor.
Correct report, only that Mimiko hails from Ondo and not Akure; that notwithstanding, the entire people of Ondo state, from Akungba to Ugbo nla, claim him as their very own son for his steadfast and unflinching battle against the enemies of progress and neanderthals. He belongs to us all. We hope now that the sun will truly shine in Ondo state. Congratulations all.
”the submerged truth will sometimes comes to the top”
Congratulations to our own very Ondo son!!!!!. We pray that God will grant you the knowledge, strenght, and all the necessary support needed to rule the state.
We are very very very proud of your victory!!!
Pele (USA)
I am happy for this judgement. thank you lord! ondo state shall SHINE forever. amen.
The law is the only thing that will save us from the electoral trauma of this country. I strongly believe in the saying that he who laughs last, laughs best. Mimiko please laugh and best laugh and concentrate so that you won’t betral the people trust.
Have a wonderful stay in your office till 2013!
The law is the only thing that will save us from the electoral trauma of this country. I strongly believe in the saying that he who laughs last, laughs best. Mimiko please laugh and best laugh and concentrate so that you won’t betral the people trust.
Have a wonderful stay in your office till 2013!
08032360900
Dear TA, in defence of Nation Newspaper, with the use of the punctuation mark, it does not suggest that Mimiko is from Akure. Guess we are all just too excited.
Peace bruv we are more than conquerors.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Sends The New Ondo State A Message from Beyond
“Let’s Share My Dream”
On the occasion of the victorious and final Declaration of Dr Olusegun Mimiko as Governor of Ondo State – 23rd February, 2009
I am indeed happy to join with you all today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for democracy and freedom in the history of Ondo State. I unite with you in soul as I send this congratulatory message of hope, reason, and wisdom today.
Your elected and ratified Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, a great Statesman, over two years ago, made a Declaration of intent which was synonymous to an emancipation proclamation. This momentous Declaration came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Ondo State indigenes who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice, poverty and alienation. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But almost two years later, the truth remained elusive. Two years later, the fight for the just verdict of who held the people’s mandate raged on. But in the meantime, the lives of the people were still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of corruption. Two years later, the people of Ondo State very unjustifiably continued to live on a lonely highway of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity kept away for some. They were still languishing in the corners of the village squares and find themselves exiles in their own lands.
It is unfortunate and sad that for so long the people of Ondo State have been given instead, a bad check, a check which had come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refused to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refused to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this State. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice in Ondo State. And so we’ve come here today to rightfully claim the people’s mandate as bestowed on Dr Olusegun Mimiko. This Mandate in a sense is a promise that the people of Ondo State would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
As we collect this hallowed Mandate; we have also come to this hallowed spot to remind all the people of Ondo State about the fierce urgency of NOW. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. NOW is the time to make real the promises of democracy. NOW is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of looting and corruption to the sunlit path of integrity governance. NOW is the time to lift Ondo State from the quicksands of class division to the solid rock of brotherhood. NOW is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.
It would be fatal for the new Ondo State to overlook the urgency of the moment. 23rd February 2009 is not an end, but a beginning. And those who had hoped that the accredited party in Ondo State (Labour Party) needed to blow off steam will have a rude awakening as Ondo State returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in this State until the undertrodden and lowly are granted their rights of worthiness. The whirlwinds of change will continue to shake the foundations of our State until the bright day of justice and emancipation emerges.
But there is something that we must say to the people, as they stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our governance on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force even as we are put to the test. Let us all come to a realization that our destiny is tied up with one another’s destiny’ and our freedom are inextricably bound together.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the poor man is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of brutal governance. We can never be satisfied as long as our children cannot gain admission into the schools of their choice. We cannot be satisfied as long as the farmers have no crops to sow. We can never be satisfied as long as our hospitals are ill equipped and become death houses. We cannot be satisfied as long as the votes of the ordinary people are not allowed to count. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
We are not unmindful that many have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some have come fresh from hiding. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of political brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Now you can go back home knowing that somehow this situation can and has changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, as we gather today friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, we still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the New Ondo State dream.
We have a dream that one day Ondo State will rise up and live out the true meaning of its name “Sunshine State”.
We have a dream that one day on the brown hills of Idanre, tourists and visitors will mingle with the local people in economic bliss.
We have a dream that one day every town in Ondo State, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
We have a dream that one day all our children will wander freely without fear of kidnappers and cultists.
We have a dream today!
We have a dream that very soon right inside Alagbaka would commence an all including governance of integrity, openness and fairness.
We have a dream today!
We have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”
This is our hope, and this is the faith that follows, guides and leads our latest governor from the South West, Dr Olusegun Mimiko.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair left by the past usurping governor, a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of Ondo State into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, and to fight together, to continue to stand up for freedom together, knowing that Ondo State would be truly and fully emancipated one day.
Today is D-day, when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:
Kile le se Olorun Awa, kile le se?
Kile le se Olorun Awa, kile le se?
Eyin ti e da aiye atorun Kile le se?
Kile le se Olorun Awa, kile le se?
And if Ondo State is to be a great State, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of Idanre.
Let freedom ring from the mighty Oyemekun Rocks of Akure.
Let freedom ring from the Oke Maria Oka Hills of Akoko South West.
Let freedom ring from the monumental palace of the Deji of Akure..
Let freedom ring from the Ebomi Lake of Ikpesi Akoko.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from the Alagbaka Cenotaph of Akure
Let freedom ring from the Caves of Ashes of Isharun.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Ile-Oluji
From every mountain side, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every home, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, regardless of creed, religion and age; will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the Yoruba Spiritual Song:
Osuba re re o, Osuba re re o
Oba ta o ri, ta nri se owo re, Osuba re re o.
Compiled by Omotaylor on the Occasion of the Victorious and Final Pronouncement of Dr Olusegun Mimiko as the Duly Elected Governor of Ondo State on 23rd February 2009.
Source: Martin Luther King Jn. – I HAVE A DREAM.
Good to see that justice has been restored and the mantel handed to the rightful owner. In the spirit of faith and greatness Mimiko would hopefully with the support of the entire indigenes and non indigenes of the state continues to archive greatness and what is expected of him by the minority will be met.
Today we celebrate, tomorrow its back to the drawing board and picking up the pieces of what the predecessor has left. We in Diaspora now look forward to moving back to a country where we know justice can be fair and upheld.
Let the good work begain.
Congratulations from: oxzzie.com
halleluia.halleluia.halleluia.ija dopin ogun si tan.olusegun Agagu re le orin ayo la o ma ko.HALLELUIA
This is inspiring Omotaylor.
Congratulations my Governor!!!!!
We won, we won, and we won!!!
They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strenght.
Trust in God, no shaking!!
Oluwa a lora emi yin o.
Amen.
@Omotaylor. This is a beautiful post. A sweet reminder of the evergreen message of Martin Luther King to the perpetrators of injustice of his time. Timely too for our own situation in Ondo state. I enjoyed particularly the piece that “Let freedom ring from the Caves of Ashes of Isharun”. That’s my small town in Ifedore Local Government. We pray Dr. Mimiko help us develop this tourist site where the oldest man said to have lived was excavated by British Archeologists and taken to Owo Museum. No Government has ever cared about this tourist site.
@Olaniyi Ekundayo, glad I touched a right cord in you. Ondo State WILL GO PLACES. I just could not help but put this piece together, and I shall be revisiting it stage by stage, as the people are governed along the right paths to development. There must be change in Ondo State and especially from and forvthe masses.
today has been a glorious day indeed.
IROKO JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The Philistine army had gathered for war against Israel. The two armies faced each other, camped for battle on opposite sides of a steep valley. A Philistine giant measuring over nine feet tall and wearing full armor came out each day for forty days, mocking and challenging the Israelites to fight. His name was Goliath. Saul, the King of Israel, and the whole army were terrified of Goliath.
One day David, the youngest son of Jesse, was sent to the battle lines by his father to bring back news of his brothers. David was probably just a young teenager at the time. While there, David heard Goliath shouting his daily defiance and he saw the great fear stirred within the men of Israel. David responded, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of God?”
So David volunteered to fight Goliath
NOW IROKO CONGRATULATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ONDO STATE: CONGRATULATION!!!!!!!!!!!!
LABOUR PARTY: CONGRATULATION!!!!!!!!!!!
IROKO YO JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
LOGN LIFE IROKO
LONG LIFE LABOUR PARTY
LONG LIFE ONDO STATE
IROKO YI JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Israelites are facing the Philistines at Socoh in Judah. Twice a day for forty days Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, comes out between the lines and challenges the Israelites to send out a champion of their own to decide the outcome in single combat, but Saul and all the Israelites are afraid. David is present, bringing food for his elder brothers. When told that Saul has promised to reward any man who will defeat the Philistine champion, David declares he is not afraid. Saul reluctantly agrees and offers his armour, which David declines in favour of his sling and five stones taken from a brook.
David and Goliath confront each other, Goliath with his armour and shield-bearer, David with his staff and sling, “and the Philistine cursed David by his gods.” But David replies: “This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down, and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
VICTORYAT LAST
GLORY BE GOD IN HEAVEN
LABOUR PARTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Oga wa your smile above is well worth it. You have fought the good fight with all your might. Christ will continue to be your strength and right and will be All in All to you. CONGRATULATIONS. You are our inspiration.
Congratulations!!! Dr. Olusegun Mimiko. Remember this day and your struggles, use this golden opportunity to write your name with a golden pen on the map of the world people that have left office wish they could have such opportunity to go and correct there wrongs but unfortunatley it is too late. Work as if you will never be re-elected, Make God the driver of the change process.pray as if all depends on prayer and see what the Lord will do in your life. Once again Congratulations!
Aye a ye eeeee o bami. Ire Ondo ase oju de de wa ooooooo. Amen.
Admin,
Make you tell my friend Olubansile Abass that we dey salute him
from The USA, E get as he be we don call yor nunber so tay, I
dey throway salute. My bele dey happy for all my people from
Ondo state and for all una.
I be him friend from Medilag.
congrats—chappy
ANOTHER EDITION: NATION -
Mimiko … the governor 24/2/2009
From Joseph Jibueze, Benin
A NEW governor emerged yesterday in Ondo State.
Dr Rahman Olusegun Mimiko was crowned by the Court of Appeal, sitting in Benin, the Edo State capital, which upheld the nullification of the April 14, 2007 election of Dr Olusegun Agagu.
The court held that Mimiko, a medical doctor turned politician, having satisfied the requirement of Section 179 (2)(a) and (b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and by virtue of Section 147 (2) of the Electoral Act No. 2 of 2006, “be and is hereby declared as the Governor of Ondo State of Nigeria.”
The court, presided over by President of the Appeal Court, Justice Umar Faruk Abdullahi, affirmed the judgment delivered by the Justice Garba Nabaruma-led Ondo State Election Petition Tribunal on July 28, last year.
Justice Abdulllahi led Justices Isa Ayo Salami, Kumai Bayang Akaahs, Amina Adamu Augie and Uzo Ndukwe-Anayanwu on the five-man panel.
The delivery of the judgment began at 10.09am and ended at about 12.51pm.
The court made no order as to costs; each party is to bear his own costs.
Justice Abdullahi said since there was no relief seeking that the election be nullified and a fresh one conducted, the court was not competent to accede to the request.
“Having resolved all the 12 issues against the appellant (Agagu), the 207 grounds of appeal from which they were formulated fail and are dismissed,” the court held.
The court said the only other appeal outstanding for consideration was that of the second respondent, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who it said could really claim to be an aggrieved party.
But the court chided the other appellants, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for being “nominal parties who have no stake as to the outcome of the appeal.”
Said Justice Abdullahi: “It is none of their business to decide the person whom the electorate elects and consequently declared by the court to be winner and person returned.
“The primary function of these purported appellants is to ensure that there is fairness and security at the election.
“Public policy demands that the two institutions do not descend into the arena, and theirs to tend the rope in the interest of peace and stability in the land. Thus, they should learn to remain neutral and strive to attain the aura of neutrality bestowed on them by the constitution.
“I commend to these appellants the attitude of the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Navy who were equally joined as respondents, but did not enter the fray to further complicate proceedings that were already complicated.”
The court said: “Nine issues for determination were formulated in the Appeal No. CA/B/EPT/342A/08 filed by the PDP. However, all the nine issues were covered in the issues formulated in Appeal No. CA/B/342A/08 and have been disposed of.
“The issues canvassed by the other appellants in their respective appeals have also been considered and disposed of in the same Appeal No. CA/B/EPT/342A/08.
“In the final analysis, it is clear that all the appeals lack merit. They are accordingly dismissed. The judgment of the tribunal delivered on the 25th day of July 2008 is hereby affirmed.”
On Mimiko’s allegation that there was no election in several units, the court held that Agagu, who asserted substantially that election was conducted, had the evidential burden of proving that it was held, but he did not.
The court held that Mimiko, who averred that election was not held, could not be required to prove the holding of the election by producing its results.
It was Agagu, who alleged that there was free and fair election, who was under the obligation to tender the result of the election in the nature of Form EC8A in proof of the assertion that election was freely and fairly conducted and results duly collated and declared.
Justice Abdullahi said: “Their failure to do so means that they failed to prove that elections were held and, therefore, impliedly admitted that there was no election.
“There is no obligation on the first respondent (Mimiko) to tender Form EC8A, notwithstanding that he pleaded same in his petition. Otherwise, he will be proving a case contrary to his pleadings.
“He has no duty to abandon his case and proceed to assist the appellant to prove his case.”
The court held that with or without the earlier results announced by INEC, LP was still ahead of the PDP.
For instance, the court said: “Whether or not LP scored 25percent of the votes cast in Akoko North LGA cannot affect the outcome of the result since the first respondent scored 25percent of the votes cast in 12 out of the 18 local governments constituting Ondo State, in addition to getting the highest number of valid votes cast at the election.”
The court held that after the corrections and adjustments made to scores of the parties at the election by the Appeal Court, the LP still polled 195,030 as against the PDP’s 131,555 votes.
Justice Abdulahi added: “I am respectfully unable to accept the submission of the learned counsel because the tribunal never found that the election vitiated by serious and substantial irregularities.
“What it found was that the outcome, which is the election of the appellant, had been affected by serious and substantial irregularities and malpractices.
AND ANOTHER – NATION: ONDO WAS THE PLACE TO BE FOR IT SOUNDED LIKE REAL FUN.
Jubilation in Ondo, Akure 24/2/2009
From Odunayo Ogunmola, Akure and Olukorede Yishau, Ondo
There was jubilation in Ondo town–home of Dr Segun Mimiko– and Akure, the Ondo State capital, yesterday, following the Court of Appeal’s verdict affirming the declaration of the Labour Party (LP) standard bearer, as winner of the April 14, 2007 governorship election.
Thousands of people trooped out in celebration. They rode on motorcycles and in vehicles.
Many drivers and motorcyclists broke traffic rules to celebrate the dawn of a new era in the state.
Akure went wild immediately the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Umaru Farouk Abdullahi, pronounced Mimiko winner at exactly 12.50 pm.
The people had earlier stayed glued to their television sets to observe proceedings at the Appeal Court.
The state was gripped with tension while the judgment lasted.
The fear of a possible violence kept many residents indoors as fewer commercial vehicles were plying the roads.
The Erekesan Market, the largest in Akure, was deserted.
Police vehicles were stationed in strategic junctions to deter troublemakers.
Immediately the judgment was delivered, residents stormed the streets and commercial motorcyclists defied the scorching sun to perform many stunts with their bikes.
A fully-loaded police truck sandwiched by two Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) paraded the streets.
Many of the vehicles were draped in the LP’s colours of orange and green.
Some of them waved the flags, mufflers and scarves of the victorious party.
A crowd of people lined the streets from Oba Adesida Road to Ilesa Road, chanting Mimiko’s popular slogan: “Iroko Joo, Gbasibe”!
Some of the songs they rendered included: O ti se o, baba tise o, ohun t’nba wa leru baba tise o (Heavenly father has done it for us and put an end to our fears), O se, ose o, o se o, o se baba, (Thank you, thank you, thank you father, thank you father), Oju ti PDP, Oju ti Agagu, Oju ti Obasanjo (PDP, Agagu and Obasanjo have been put to shame).
Taxi drivers, majority of whom stayed off the streets, came out after the judgment to make brisk business.
Mimiko’s kinsmen in Ondo, his hometown, were ecstatic. They sang, danced and thanked God for his victory.
The streets of the ancient city, which was barren for most of the morning, throbbed with people who sang and danced, thanking God for the outcome of the appeal.
Commercial motorcyclists, taxi drivers and motorists poured into the streets, doing stunts. Policemen fired gunshots into the air to celebrate the victory.
The jubilant crowd, who thronged Mimiko’s home, sang songs with lyrics such as Iroko lo le se Only Mimiko can do it ); Gba sibe; Otito bori okunkun( the truth has triumphed over darkness);’ti Agagu ba mo inuro,’ a dupe (If Agagu knows how to think, he will thank God); Ayipada rere de (A new dawn has come); Won ti declare daddy wa (Our daddy has been declared governor); Ile lo lo tarara, Agagu re ile o (Agagu is gone forever); and so on.
The crowd went wild when Mimiko’s wife, Kemi, came to address them at the entrance to their home, shouting: “To God be the glory.”
Mrs. Mimiko told the jubilant crowd that the people elected her husband on April 14, 2007 and some people thought they could change it.
She assured the people that her husband will not betray the confidence reposed in him.
She said: “To God alone be the glory. The people spoke. God is not in a hurry and he taught us to be patient. Now, He has spoken. There is joy in the land. It is a new dawn. We are ready to work for the people. We are ready to serve the people because they stood by us. We are ready to turn around Ondo State. It is well with Ondo State, it is well in Ondo State. This joy shall be permanent in Jesus name. Thank you.”
HOPE LIKE ME YOU ALL CANT HAVE ENOUGH OF THE NEWS REPORTS. HERE IS ANOTHER AND THE PART I LIKED THE MOST WAS
“FORMER” COMMISSIONER FOR INFORMATION, EDDY OLAFESO, NOW ALL VERY FORMERLY FORMER: ENJOY
Court affirms Mimiko winner of Ondo governorship election 24/2/2009
From Osagie Otabor, Benin
Tears of joy dropped off the eyes of Labour Party (LP) candidate, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko shortly after the court declared him winner of the Ondo State governorship election.
As early as 7am, the access road to the court’s premises on the Benin-Auchi Road from the Ikpoba Hill axis was blocked by heavily armed security operatives who were searching visitors before being allowed to enter the court.
Anti-bomb squad experts were at the alert.
Despite the accreditation of those that would be allowed to witness the judgment, the rush to enter the courtroom was intense. Journalists were allowed in at 8:45am while Dr. Mimiko entered at exactly 8:48a.m., dressed in a brown kaftan with a cap.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supporters present include Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo, PDP National Vice-Chairman, South-West, Dr. Tayo Dairo, Ondo State Chairman, Hon Bakkita Bello and Eddy Olafeso, former Ondo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation.
From the Labour Party were Abdulkadiri Abdulsalam, National Secretary, Dr. John Ogbeide, Edo State Chairman, Comrade Isa Aremu, National Vice-President, Nigeria Labour Congress, and Dan Nwanyanwu National Chairman, Ladi Innocent, Legal Adviser, Dr. Isaac Folorunso Akintade, Leader LP Ondo State and Dr. Olaiya Oni, the state Chairman.
INEC Counsel were P.O Jimoh-Lasisi and Obi Okwusogu. PDP lawyers were Adetunji Oyeyipo, Sola Oludipe and Rotimi Oguneso.
Counsel to Agagu were Chief Adeniyi Akintola, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, Chief Alex Izinyon, and Chief Ife Adedipe, among others.
Among the 35 counsel for Mimiko were Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Chief Ahmed Tarfa, Chief Olu Ogidan, Femi Falana, Chief Yinka Adeyosoye, Hon Bolu Kunlere, Hon Aderemi Olatubora, Chief Tunde Atere, Olufemi Fadare Ope Fadoju among others.
Olanipekun said of the verdict: “It is the best so far. This is the very best of the very best. There cannot be a more glorious circumstance for your lordship to be pulled out of the judiciary. You have carried out a revolution. Your revolution has been noticed and it is redemption of our democracy. Even in retirement, God will glorify himself through you. The Court of Appeal should take a cue from you. The judgment is a vindication of the wishes of the people through the ballot boxes.”
The Chairman of Edo State Labour Party, Dr. John Ogbeide said: “We are grateful to God for finally granting this opportunity for the vindication of him becoming the governor of Ondo State under Labour Party.”
Despite police statement that there should be no jubilation at the court’s premises, Labour Party supporters were jubilating, singing praises, blocking the road as well as chanting anti-PDP songs.
The governor-elect of Ondo State after the judgment visited Edo Governor Adams Oshiomhole.
Oshiomhole said he and Mimiko have the challenge of ensuring that they deliver to meet most of the sacrifices that the people have paid in the past two years.
“In the life of our country as we have seen, when a section of our political class has continued to mess up the country, God in his infinite power and mercy has continued to help to mend fences. We want to thank God for what he has used the Nigeria judiciary as represented by the leadership the president and his colleague at the Court of Appeal have rescued Ondo State the same way Edo State was rescued.”
I LOVE THIS ONE:
Lam Adesina flays Obasanjo 24/2/2009
From Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan
Former Governor of Oyo State Alhaji Lamidi Adesina yesterday lashed out at former President Olusegun Obasanjo for his alleged undemocratic policies and behaviour that almost destroyed the democratic process.
Adesina, reacting to the judgment of the Appeal Court which upheld the declaration of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party (LP) in Ondo State winner of the April 14, 2007 governorship election, said: “If it were during the tenure of Obasanjo, he would have thwarted the decision and disobeyed the court order.”
He described Mimiko’s victory as “a well deserved one.”
“I particularly congratulate President Yar’Adua for allowing the judiciary to grow. If it were during the tenure of Obasanjo, he would have thwarted the decision and disobey the court order,” he said.
Adesina urged the sacked Governor Olusegun Agagu to go and face the probe panel on power.
He also congratulated Mimiko and saluted the people for standing solidly behind him.
A former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Abraham Adeleke described the victory as part of the gains for the lovers of democracy.
The former Speaker added that the judgment showed that there is still hope for Nigeria.
“I therefore strongly appeal to other judges who are handling electoral matters in other divisions of the Court of Appeal to emulate their President in discharging their judgment based on fairness and justice,” he said.
I TAKE THIS WITH A PINCH OF SALT:
Atiku: It’s retrieval of stolen mandate 24/2/2009
From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar yesterday described the declaration of the Labour Party governorship candidate in Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko as winner of the April 14, 2007 election as the return of a stolen mandate.
Abubakar’s reaction to the decision of the Court of Appeal was contained in a statement in Abuja by the Atiku Media Office.
The statement reads: “Once again, the judiciary has made us proud. Justice has been done in Ondo State. The stolen mandate has been returned to its rightful owner.
“The Nigerian judiciary should continue to demonstrate courage and fairness in the quest to righting the wrongs of the April 2007 fraudulent elections.
“The declaration of Mimiko as Governor of Ondo State is a resurgence of hope in the country’s democratic system.
“There is nothing inherently bad with Nigeria’s democracy; the problem lies in our reluctance to play fairly because of desperation for power.
“It is sad that Olusegun Mimiko had to wait for 21 months to reclaim his mandate. Similarly, Action Congress governorship candidate in Ekiti State, DR. Kayode Fayemi, is going for a re-run election nearly two years after successfully going through the 2007 governorship election.
“The cost to the nation in terms of time, energy and material resources which have been wasted in the struggle for justice has been enormous.
“All these could easily have been avoided if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had conducted free and fair elections in April 2007.”
Abubakar urged President Umaru Yar’Adua to “holistically implement the electoral reforms, which he promised the nation during his inauguration in May 2007.
SORRY MY PEOPLE BUT I JUST LOVE THESE POSTS. LOTS TO SHARE AND AFFIRMS THE SUPREMACY OF HIS EXCELLENCY GOVERNOR MIMIKO. ANOTHER TO READ:
Tinubu, Aregbesola hail judgment 24/2/2009
Former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Action Congress (AC) governorship candidate in Osun State, Alhaji Rauf Aregbesola, yesterday hailed the judiciary for rallying for democracy.
They lauded the Court of Appeal judgment that sacked Dr. Olusegun Agagu as Ondo State governor.
Tinubu, in a statement yesterday in Lagos by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Olakunle Abimbola, said: “Justice Umar Abdullahi and his colleagues at the Appeal Court have proved that the will of the people and liberty cannot be sabotaged by the amount of weapons and money in one’s possession. The judiciary remains the conscience of the nation.”
Tinubu also hailed the Justice Garba Nabaruma Election Petitions Tribunal that first voided Agagu’s election.
According to him, the judiciary has given democracy a new lease of life.
“There is no question about it. The judiciary is fast becoming the saviour of Nigerian democracy. It is fast freeing it from the vice-grip of power rascals and do-or-die politicians,” he added.
Congratulating Dr. Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party (LP) and the people for retrieving their mandate without resorting to violence, Tinubu said the unborn generation would be proud of their heroic feats: how, “as David faced Goliath, they faced the mighty election riggers and soundly vanquished them in the court of law.”
But Tinubu said the real work had just started, adding that the LP and its teeming supporters could not have got this far without hoping to make a difference in the lives of the people.
Tinubu appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to clean up its acts in future elections, particularly the impending re-run in 64 wards in Ekiti State to avoid litigation.
Aregbesola congratulated Mimiko, the LP and all democratic forces in the country, particularly the Court of Appeal, for rising up to the challenge against what he called the threat to the sanctity of universal adult suffrage.
Aregbesola, in a statement, said the declaration of Mimiko as a governor was a proof that the judiciary was capable of sustaining democracy.
The AC candidate said: “There is victory for the just. The verdict of the appeal tribunal in Benin is commendable. It again celebrates the readiness of the judiciary, especially its upper echelon, to uphold justice.
“It was very clear that Agagu and his hordes did not win their illegitimate office in April 2007.
“Brute force and caprice were callously deployed to impose themselves on us in our region with humiliating impunity.
“The brilliant judgment of today deserves the commendation of all patriots and democrats.
“It also calls for a review of our response to the nefarious acts of vote rigging, electoral banditry and malfeasance. Strict punishment is required as deterrent to vote robbers and mandate snatchers.
“I congratulate the long-suffering but resilient people of Ondo State for their patience, loyalty and commitment. I salute the doggedness of Olusegun Mimiko (Iroko) for his unyielding commitment to ensuring justice.
“I praise the Nigeria judiciary for once again fulfilling its historic duty to the freedom, liberty and justice-seeking people of Nigeria with their unambiguous denunciation of debauchery at the polls by a pack of coupists, terrorists, social misfits and misanthropists.”
“For the glory of our land, happiness of our people, we must consign Agagu and his cohorts to jail. Long live democracy, social and economic justice. ”
“This victory is for democracy, a victory for the rule of law, a victory for justice, an accolade to the judiciary, the last hope of the victims of injustice, oppression, illegality, banditry and electoral hitch, a triumph of substantial justice over technical injustice.
“A new and revolutionary democratic governance is about to begin in Ondo State; and we earnestly hope it represents a new vista of hope for the resurgence of the values of true democracy in such places where electoral robbery took place on 14th April, 2007.
“We shall not take a softer line in our efforts to see that Nigeria imbibes, and internalises democratic ethos. To the Dutch soldier who relishes the ecstasy of stolen power, Ondo State has sounded the signal to the end of their coup. The game is over. Democracy is coming home to roost in Nigeria, a warning to those who forced themselves into power, that their days are numbered. The coup has once again failed.”
Aregbesola urged Mimiko to pursue people-oriented programmes, adding that he should swing into action immediately.
Ondo, Yet Another Landmark Judgment
By Sunny Igboanugo Group Politics Editor, Lagos
Iya Ilu (the mother of drums) in Yorubaland does not sound easily, or in vain. It only does, when great things happen.
It is an instrument not only for heralding big events, but one that inflames the adrenaline in the people and rouses them to instant celebration, because the drum is hardly beaten for negative purposes.
When the people of Ondo State heard it yesterday, they knew the meaning. It could not have been for a different purpose.
So, from Akure to Okitipupa, Ore to Ile-Oluji, they spilled onto the streets. The people of Okeigbo, Owo, Ikare, Ondo, Ijare, and Idanre heard too. To them, it was also the same message. Those in the villages abandoned their farms, others their places of business. Workers pushed away their files to join in the celebration that took over the land.
They did not have to pause to ask the reason for the festivity. Even the little child knew, because it is a matter for which many families had lost sleep in the past two years or so; which had caused bile to well up in them; for which Christians and Muslims had conducted different prayer and fasting sessions, and for which Ifa priests had communed with the gods in incantations and sacrifices.
This is the culmination of it all, the meeting of their expectations and the realisation of their dreams. The end of bad dreams. They no longer need to wince each time they hear the sirens, which compel them to leave the road for a king they did not crown, and whose authority came from distant lands.
The people no longer need to go to sleep and wake up the next day feeling the same emptiness that comes from the fact that they were not part of what is happening around them; that confines them to mere onlookers as their commonwealth is distributed; that confines their feelings to the dustbin and coerces them to stoic silence – knowing the result of any form of open protest would be more devastating than the gains they would hope to achieve, especially as the king and those who crowned him appeared ready to top their conquest by drinking with their skulls.
They knew that they did not vote for Olusegun Kokumo Agagu, but Olusegun Rahman Mimiko, on April 14, 2007, despite the similarity in their names. Yet, just like an army of occupation, Agagu had been forced on them ever since. But that has effectively come to an end. Now, they have their mandate restored and there is joy in the land.
It came via the intervention of the wise men in the neighbouring Edo State, where five Justices of the Court of Appeal affirmed Mimiko as the winner of the election, the same verdict given by the lower tribunal that ruled on it last year.
But this had come after a tortuous journey by Mimiko, former Minister of Housing and Urban Development; a journey strewn with stumps, landmines and barricades, which prevented the manifestation of the affinity he had enjoyed with the people, but which he appeared determined to conquer.
In fact, Mimiko, to underscore this determination, had to confront the much-dreaded monumental terror machinery of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, under whom he served as a Minister.
Reports had it that Obasanjo had warned him not to contest the 2007 election, and even threatened to send after him the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), then a rampaging attack dog of Obasanjo.
This was despite Obasanjo’s personal experience of Mimiko’s popularity in the state.
The former President had been confronted by motley crowds chanting Iroko at every turn while on visits in the state, despite the fact that Agagu was his host; a situation said to have put Agagu in a fix. All these clear signals from the people were, however, brushed aside as Obasanjo was determined to have his way, as usual.
Yet Mimiko, apparently imbued by the knowledge of his standing with the people, did not balk. He not only fought Obasanjo and his ubiquitous Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) machinery on the battlefield on election day, but in the courts also, where it took the combination of the fervent energies of his lawyers and a just Judge, not only to give him and his people the justice they sought, but to cement the affinity they have enjoyed these past years.
Again, it took another landmark words of the President of the Appeal Court, Justice Umaru Abdullahi, who appears to have established himself in the minds of many Nigerians as an upright Jurist to do so.
Indeed, Abdullahi seems to have also established himself as the nightmare of election riggers in the Benin division of the Appeal Court. He had earlier sat on the case that sent Agagu’s counterpart in Edo State, Osarheimen Osunbor, packing for the same reason of electoral fraud.
Dismissing the 207 grounds of appeal – distilled into 12 filed by Agagu against the verdict of the tribunal – Abdullahi, in a unanimous decision, held that Mimiko, having satisfied Sections 21 and 39 of the Electoral Act, should be returned and sworn in immediately.
That has since been done, thus opening another chapter in the annals of history, not only in Ondo State, but in Nigeria’s political lexicon.
To many analysts, Monday’s development has added yet another plank to the democratic platform, which is fast being nailed together by some forces in the land intent on saving its practice in Nigeria from the dangerous plunge it has taken since the exit of the military almost a decade ago, especially in the last years of Obasanjo.
Even with the PDP still striding a large chunk of the political landscape, many have argued that the addition of Ondo on the list of states the ruling party has lost, may be the beginning of the steady climb to sound democratic ethos which have made Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Benin Republic the toast of the world from Africa.
Wole Olanipekun, counsel to Mimiko, seemed to allude to the contributions of the likes of Abdullahi in building this platform, in his reply to Monday’s judgement.
“When you delivered the Oshiomhole judgment I said it is the best. This judgment is the very best of the very best. It has become the catechism of all judicial authorities.
“You have carried out a revolution but you might not know. It is redemption of our democracy. The Court of Appeal has never been greater than it is today,” Olanipekun said.
There is no doubt that a fresh chapter of political history is gradually opening here. How far it does depends on what happens in the coming months when other cases in court are decided.
Nigerians are watching. And so is the rest of the world.
I PROMISE THIS IS THE LAST ONE……………………FOR TODAY, LOL!!! AM ENJOYING IT ALL, ALL THE WAY, ESCTATIC, DELIRIOUS, SWEET VICTORY. DONT BE SURPRISED THAT YOU COULD STILL SHED TEARS OF JOY WHEN YOU READ THIS DETAILED COURT RULLING:
Ondo guber: Tears of joy as Mimiko gets final judgment
From TONY OSAUZO, Benin
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tears of joy rolled down the cheeks of Dr. Rahman Olusegun Mimiko as the Court of Appeal on Monday in Benin affirmed the decision of the lower tribunal, which on July 25, 2008 declared him winner of the April 14, 2007 governorship election in Ondo State.
In dismissing all the 12 grounds of appeal filed by the appellant and erstwhile governor, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, the court in a unanimous decision held that Dr. Mimiko, having satisfied sections 21 and 39 of the Electoral Act 2006 “is hereby declared duly elected Governor of Ondo State.
“The appeal is hereby dismissed. The judgment of the tribunal is hereby affirmed,” the court held in its judgment delivered by its President, Justice Umaru Abdullahi.
According to the Court of Appeal, Dr. Mimiko of the Labour Party won the election with 195,030 votes as against 138,155 votes scored by Dr. Agagu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The court held that Dr. Mimiko scored 25 per cent of the votes in 12 out of the 18 local governments in the state.
The court urged the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to learn to be neutral in electoral cases, just as it condemned the attitude of the Nigerian Police and the Army in joining the fray.
The court held that the appellants were wrong to have raised the issue that Dr Mimiko’s petition was not competition and that it should be struck out at the appeal state, stressing that the appropriate place to have raised the issue was the lower tribunal where the matter was tried.
On the non-joinder of the police and the electoral officers which the appellants contended was fatal to Dr Mimiko’s petition, the Court of Appeal held that where INEC is a party in electoral matter, the non-joinder of any of its agents would not have any effect on the petition, adding that joining of the police and other agents alleged to have committed electoral fraud was not necessary, as the Electoral Act 2006 was distinct from the 2002 Electoral Act which required such joinder.
The court also held that the argument of the appellants’ counsel that the tribunal sorted and counted the ballot papers on its own without involving the parties was untenable as records of the lower tribunal showed that the counting was carried out and witnessed by agents of all parties in the case.
It held further that the allegations of election rigging made by the petitioner against Dr. Agagu and the PDP was proved by a reply in a letter by the Secretary to the Ondo State Government, accepting to pay compensation to a 300-level student of the University of Ibadan who was killed while rigging election
The Court of Appeal, while okaying the lower tribunal’s decision to cancel election results in some units and wards on the grounds of irregularities and non-voting, held that the appellants’ argument that the election did not comply substantially with the 2006 Electoral Act was unmeritorious and therefore resolved in favour of the petitioner.
While holding that the appellants’ failure to produce forms EC8A was fatal to their case, the court further held that the appellants’ objection to the use of charts was unmeritorious, as the appellants ant respondents made the use of charts cornerstone of their case.
Reacting to the judgment, lead counsel to Dr. Agagu, Chief Lateef Fagbemi [SAN] thanked the justices for their effort.
On his part, lead counsel to Dr. Mimiko, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) described the judgment as a demonstration of the wishes of the people through the ballot box.
“When you delivered the Oshiomhole judgment, I said it is the best. This judgment is the very best of the very best. It has become the catechism of all judicial authorities. You have carried out a revolution but you might not know. It is redemption of our democracy. The Court of Appeal has never been greater than it is today,” he said.
Replying, Justice Abdullahi commended the counsel for their hardwork, saying that the case was a very complex case, even as he also commended his colleagues on the bench.
Soon after the judgment was given, supporters of Dr. Mimiko went into wild jubilation within the court premises
In his reaction at the Government House, Benin, Dr. Mimiko said nobody should assume that he could steal the peoples vote and mandate with impunity and assured the people of Ondo State that their hope would not be dashed.
On his part, Governor Oshiomhole of Edo State said “we in Edo State are privileged to be part of this history. I thank God for the wonderful things He has done for our country when some sections of the political class have continued to mess up the country,” adding that the judiciary has restored those votes the people of Ondo gave to the winner.
First of all, I would like to congratulate Dr Olusegun Mimiko on yet another justice and victory awarded to him by the court of appeal.
However, I urge my fellow Ondos and other concerned observers of this case to note one key point that: Mimiko did not get this justice by his swift games, political influences/might, black powers or by wealth either, given the power of incumbency, political might, money, to say the least which Olusegun Agugu could have or must have attempted to use to manipulate the outcome of the appeal case and rob Mimiko of his mandate in any imaginable ways. Reflecting on other recent electoral court cases like this, where the compelling evidences before the law court could have been ignored, I have got no doubt that in the Mimiko versus Agagu’s case, the Election Petions tribunal’s verdict has been upheld by the court of appeal based on the compelling credit of the new change, integrity and independence of the judiciary in Nigeria. I think the judiciary has started to rediscover its values, independence and integrity in our society. Yet I believe this is a stepping stone to restoring sanity, honesty, respect and trust back into the Justice System of Nigeria as a whole.
Although, Mimiko’s charisma and eloquence might have attracted the love and support of the people of the Sunshine State which, has been a major boost to his popularity throughout the court case, what is more important is that the people of Ondo State immensely and widely rejected, condemned and despised Olusegun Agagu and his cabinet of corruptions, deceits, greed, selfishness, woeful mismanagements of public funds and daylight robbery of election mandates. They repulsed Agagu’s government’s irresponsibility and recklessness because they could no longer accept to be fooled by his treacherous policies. The people of Ondo State have chosen hope over despair and to rule how their lives are being governed.
Nonetheless, let us not let this Appeal’s verdict overshadow the significance of the difficult challenges and responsiblities before the newly declared duly elected governor of the Ondo State Governorship Election of April 2007 when he resumes office!
Mimiko himself has long been in Ondo State politics and notably been part of the Ondo State Government to some certain extent before now, which is adequate enough to give him an undeniable clue of what the common people of Ondo State have long been undeservedly denied by his predecessors.
Before, and since Democracy took over Nigerian government in 1999, You do not need a long memory in Ondo State and Nigeria as a whole to remember the trauma of false manifestos, mass unemployment, impoverished hardship, doomed lack of infrastructure and basic/social amenities and poor health system that common masses have long endured, which are invariably caused by poor governance, chronic corruption and reckless mismanagement of public funds by the government. And one would not think twice to express his tragic disappointment at the fact that these corrupt practices in Nigerian politics have gone from worse to worst during this era of democracy.
Having said that, now that Mimiko has been granted the power and authority by the law court to govern Ondo State, regardless of his hometown or allies, he has a due obligation to deliver the policies of change, better life and lasting development he promised the people of Ondo State throughout his campaign. He has a due responsibility to put an end to the chronic corrupt practices and all forms of insanity in Ondo State Government and he should, in his political will and integrity, extend the justice and victory he has just been awarded to the people of Ondo State. I hope Olusegun Mimiko appreciates that as justice has not let him down in his case against Agagu, he and his government must not let the people of Ondo State down or take them for fools. May God help Olusegun Mimiko to govern Ondo State.
God bless Ondo State, God bless The Federal Republic of Nigeria
…it is the Lord’s doing…
GLORY BE TO GOD ALMIGHTY. HIM ALONE CAN DO THIS.
FROM THE GOVERNOR
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
What I owe the people of Ondo, by Mimiko
The Labour Party (LP) candidate in the April 14, 2007 governorship election in Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko whose election was upheld by the Appeal Court spoke before he stepped into the court to listen to the ruling yesterday. Excerpts:
What are you expecting today?
I am expecting justice. The evident truth is that I won the election; I thank God for the tribunal judgment, which unanimously affirmed the fact that I won. Sincerely I am not expecting anything different. I am expectant that justice will finally be done today.
If that doesn’t happen, what will you do?
Whatever the outcome today, I accept it as an act of God. We have decided not to embark on a path of self-help. We have decided to submit to the rule of law and once the justices pronounce today, so be it.
The PDP said that their justice was stolen at the tribunal…
The PDP stole in a hurry. They didn’t cover their tracks. One doesn’t have to be a legal expert to know that these people, the PDP in Ondo stole that election. And the stealing started from the voter registration exercise where they did some funny things and all of these were exposed at the tribunal. When they said that the tribunal stole their mandate or didn’t do them justice, I don’t know what they mean, because based on all the facts before that tribunal there was no other way to go. It was evident that we won the election.
How has this whole struggle been for you?
Sincerely, the most significant aspect of the struggle to me has been the unwavering determination of the people, their ruggedness to ensure that justice is done in this case. And most importantly, that we begged and appealed to them not to resort to self-help. And they exhibited an uncommon confidence in the judiciary to do justice in our case. To me those aspects are very significant. And of course this places a special burden, a special challenge for me that we must deliver. The expectation of the people must be fulfilled in terms of providing good governance to the people of Ondo State.
Where you at anytime intimidated by the forces that would gladly not wish you to get to this point?
No, because from the beginning, I knew this was a divine agenda. And anybody who can read in between the lines will see that the hand of God has been in this project. I have no doubt in my mind that God will bring this to a fruitful conclusion for us.
What is your comment on the judiciary and the process that has brought you to this point?
The process could be painfully slow. But at the end of the day I think we will get there. I believe that the biggest challenge that we have as a nation is to effect electoral reforms that will ensure that all process pertaining to election are concluded before anybody is sworn in. I am sure that this is part of the recommendations of the committee on electoral reforms that has already submitted its report. I think it is very crucial, very important that all judicial processes get concluded before anybody is sworn in.
Were there negotiations at anytime from both divides to see that this case didn’t get to this stage at the Appeal Court?
There was nothing like that. He was the one that stole my mandate and why should go and sit down and negotiate with Agagu or the PDP to give me back my mandate?
If you win, what would it mean for a party that doesn’t have a national presence?
A party is about people. From the national chairman of LP down to last man in the party, I have experienced an incredible degree of commitment; an incredible degree of doggedness and an incredible degree of determination to ensure that justice is done. I think it is in the very tradition of Labour. I am proud of the party.
What Options for Agagu?
By Omololu Ogunmade, 02.24.2009
Having been hit by the judicial hammer, where does the ex-governor Olusegun Agagu go from here? This is a one-million dollar question. In a manner that portrayed the former governor as pre-empting his exit from the corridors of power last week, Agagu for the first time proclaimed himself as a lucky and fulfilled man.
He made this comment while marking the 61st anniversary of his birthday on February 16, this year in Akure. Before making this pronouncement, Agagu must have taken a retrospective look on his voyage in life; how he moved from the classroom at the University of Ibadan to the Government House in Akure in 1991 when he served as deputy governor to Mr. Bamidele Olumilua, who was the governor of the old Ondo State in the failed transition agenda of former military president Ibrahim Babangida.
He had also held two ministerial portfolios – Aviation and Power and Steel, before proceeding to become Ondo State governor in 2003 and later controversially re-elected in 2007.
After the appeal court shocker, will Agagu now quit the political scene? Will he go back to the academia? The answer is yet unclear and is ensconced in the fullness of time but one thing seems almost certain: according to close aides, the former university don may not seek another elective office at least so soon. But he will seek to remain relevant in the politics of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Agagu, a strategist who knew how to push his way through, may remain a godfather of sort in Ondo PDP. He will want to help his party regain Ondo, which it has now lost to the opposition party.
IS JUSTICE DELAY BUT NOT DENIED.THX TO GOD ALMIGHTY THE CREATURE OF HEVEN AND EARTH. I APRECIATE THE JUDICIARY AND ONDO STATE. IS VICTORY FOR DEMOCRACY. THX FOR KEEPING THE HOPE ALIVE…………. IROKO GBASIBE
This is to imform you that the swearing in of our governor is on now. All glory to God.
He was prayer for as the first point of swearing in as governor to rule and to proceed for the legal swearing in. I see God ruling Ondo state in His grace and mercy.
Glory be to God
signing now and by His grace we now have a brand new Ondo state with a branded governor.
Our governor given glory to the Almighty God by dancing with Edo state governor, Chief Osoba, Aregbesola, Tinubu, and many
Our branded governor given his speech now
OUR GOD IS AWESOME, THANKS OLA FOR THE STEP BY STEP UPDATE.
WELCOME TO GOVERNOR OLUSEGUN MIMIKO OF ONDO STATE. THE OBAMAMIMIKO THAT GOD HAS TOUCHED AND ORDAINED TO DO THE JOB AND TAKE ONDO STATE TO THE PROMISED LAND. THIS SHALL HAPPEN. THE BIBLE SAYS IT RIGHT AS ALWATYS:
“THOUGH IT TARRIES, WAIT FOR IT”.
Mimiko o jareeeeeeee
Iwo la fi se
Iwo la fi se Gomina
Iwo la fi se.
I AM IN TOTAL AGREEMENT WITH THIS: (Nation)
Obasanjo, the biggest loser 24/2/2009
By Bolade Omonijo
HE has been many things in the history of Nigeria. For a long time, history was kind to him. He rose to become a General in the Army. Before then, providence arranged that whenever the history of the civil war is written, Olusegun Obasanjo would feature prominently. He was the General Officer Commanding the Commando Division, who received the surrender instrument from Biafra’s General Philip Effiong. Later, he benefited from the murder of General Murtala Muhammed in the Dimka take over bid as he emerged the Military Head of State in February 1976. It was his lot to hand over power to civilians in 1979.
All these accounted for the decision to invite him to pick the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party in 1999. Many people from the North and the South West reasoned that he must have learnt a lot from his experience in prison under General Sani Abacha and from his activities as a prominent member of the Eminent Persons Group of the Commonwealth that brokered peace in South Africa.
On May 29, 1999, the departing military regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar handed power to Obasanjo at a ceremony with people from different parts of the would.
Apart from those outside the progressive orbit in the South West, the people who rose to reject his bid were those in the South West. In most of the six states in the region, he recorded less than 20 per cent of the votes polled and was therefore taunted as a leader without a base and without an independent political structure.
He was thus determined, ahead of the 2003 election, to establish himself as a leader with his own constituency. The result was the mindless rigging that marked out the 2003 election. The PDP became the major beneficiary of what the party described as a tsunami in the South West.
In realisation that he had to step down from the presidential dais, President Obasanjo described the 2007 election as a “do or die battle.” He personally led the PDP campaign train and assured that the hold on the South West would be sustained. He danced around as, state after state, PDP was declared winner.
In Ondo State in particular, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, who was Minister of Housing and Urban Development was the butt of Obasanjo’s jokes. The former President, who solidly stood behindGovernor Olusegun Agagu, told a campaign audience in Ondo that his ex-minister would be probed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Speaking in Yoruba, Obasanjo said Mimiko ti su saga (he is leaving office with skeleton in his cupboard).
The former minister, who has served as secretary to the Agagu government, promptly reacted that he had nothing to fear or be ashamed of as he had served with distinction. His position was corroborated by the chairman of EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
That was not all that Mimiko suffered in the hands of a president determined to deliver Ondo to his party. The medical doctor-turned politician is popularly called iroko by his teeming supporters. This was turned around by the former president while addressing party supporters at a rally. He said iroko is a tree and thus has no business ruling people.
On poll day, when it became clear that the people of Ondo had voted out Agagu, the governor decided to concede defeat, but not before he had put a call across to his boss and party leader, the president. President Obasanjo would have none of that. Rather, he chose to pull strings in Abuja and, in deference to presidential preference, Agagu was declared winner even when Akure was not ready. Against procedure, the final result of the governorship poll in Ondo State was declared not by the Resident Electoral Commissioner who was the returning officer, but by a national commissioner in Abuja at the behest of the Chairman of INEC.
When later it was realised that the result had to be declared in Akure, it took efforts mixed with blackmail to get the Resident Commissioner to make the announcement in the military barrack in the town.
So, while Agagu has lost the prime position despite all the last minute moves, Olusegun Obasanjo is the major loser. He has lost the relevance he prised from the people in 2003 and 2007 and this may be the beginning of a descent into the abyss of irrelevance in party and national scheme.
Thank God..Hope restored!!!! Iroko joo Gongo ti so.Gov Olusegun Mimiko make sure that you do your best to make Ondo people Happy..i trust you that you will work in ondo.I also want to Thank president Umaru musa Yar’Adua for his rule of law.my thanks also go to president court of appeal Abdullahi for making us happy in Ondo state… my greetings to omotaylor.Congratulation Gov Olusegun Mimiko..
This is a new dawn in Ondo State.It is time to enjoy Good Governance in Ondo state.we need to work together to transform a new ondo state.God! help your child Dr Olusegun Mimiko to lead his people in Ondo state.Dr Olusegun mimiko,i want you to open room for all.young people like me.well i know that im too small for politics but i know what i am looking for there.I must make it in this mimiko administration.your time will bring happiness,success,long live for good people of Ondo State and Hopeless people..Thank you all for your support!!!.God bless Ondo state.God bless Nigeria!!!
i dont really know what Agagu and his aid will be saying now.may be they will be criticize Umaru Abdullahi now.well we are still waiting for their lost sheep to make mouth..THE END for olujeya agagu..he is not comfirmed olusegun…Mimiko is Olusegun.the great Olusegun among two Olujeya.Obasanjo and agagu.Mimiko o segun Ota…Thank God!!!
Mimiko; Courage is the father of success!
Agagu did not know that “he who digs a pit for others must invariably fall into it”.
AND…
The leech that does not let go even when it is filled, dies on the dry land.
2013 for PDP in Youruba land is like “a lizard that fell from the top of a tree wastes its time looking back to where it fell from; if there was anything good the lizard deserved, it could not have missed it while it was there on top of the tree”. NO WAY BACK MR. ADEYEMI ADEDIPE!
God bless Afenifere ati awon Asiwaju rere ni ile yoruba bi; Chief Awolowo, Chief Adekunle Ajasin, Major General Olufemi Olutoye (rtd), Chief Olu Falae, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, etc.,
LEKAN AT AKURE, REMEMBER THAT IN THE NEW ONDO STATE THAT THERE IS ROOM ENOUGH FOR ALLLLLLLLLL i.e. all the hardworking, innovative and performance driven individuals and groups that will assist move Ondo State forward through hardwork and selfless service. This is the helping hand that Governor Olusegun Mimiko will be needing now, and not those who still believe there is little left there to suck Ondo State dry. Such people will not in the name of Jesus, be hidden from public view and openly punished and imprisoned.
GOVERNOR OLUSEGUN MIMIKO as a man of the people will definitely not turn deaf ears or blind eyes to those that matter, young or old. I talk as an INDIVIDUAL but I talk once again as an individual that has TOTAL 100% confidence in the ability, class and style of this God chosen man of the people, and I know deep down in my heart that he wont let his people down. Afterall he is GREAT IFE, GREEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAT. GONGO DONE SO.
On this spectacular occassion, I thank God for His goodness that everythig ended peacefully. Dr Segun Agagu thank you for accepting the wish of people and the will of God without making fuss. Dr Rahaman Olusegun Mimiko, congratulation fon your victory and thank you for applying patience, peace and law in retreiving the mandate giving to you by the people of Ondo State.
Otunba Oyewole Fashawe (The ASIWAJU OF OWO), truly you are one of the leaders to respect in Ondo state, Yoruba and Nigeria. Baba, please forgive Dr Agagu because “nomatter how smart a boy is, he can never narrate the story of how is father was born better than his grandfather or grandmother. The remain likes of Dr Agagu will learn how to respect a sincere and resouceful benefactor, especially when it comes to the issue of a supportive elder who single-handedly lifts and supports you to the top where you realise your dream.
ASIWAJU Bola Tinubu, Chief Olu Falae, Aremo Segun Osoba, Otunba Oyewole Fashawe and othe tested and trusted leaders in Yoruba land, I congratulate you. These days political development in Yoruba land (Ondo and Ekiti State) differentiate you from others. Relent not your efforts, the spirits, the gods and the people of Yoruba land are solidly behind you.
Ondo state indigens (home and abroad), rise up to embraise the new era of Dr Rahaman Segun Mimiko. Let us give him undiluted and productive support that will deliver a good dividend of politics for swift and lasting development in Ondo state.
Honourable members of the Ondo State House of Assembly, I use this avenue to seek your productive support to Dr Mimiko. Pratically, your loyality to your party is essentially required, but remember that Ondo State can only be moved forward when you support Dr Mimiko. Ondo state can only be developed practically by Ondo state leaders and indigens.
Conclusively, I beg all my elders and my leaders in Ondo state, Yoruba land and Nigeria to please leave a good political legacy behind for us, and make Ondo state, Yoruba land and Nigeria a better place for us.
Ola Kazeem Falodun
a regular commentator national & economic issues
COMMENDATIONS KEEP POURING IN FOR THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR, DR MIMIKO. ANOTHER GOOD READ (NATION)
We salute Mimiko’s victory 25/2/2009
SIR: We salute the courage of the Elections Appeal Tribunal in Benin which upheld the decision of the Ondo State Elections Tribunal to annul the purported election of the impostor governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Agagu and uphold the election of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party as the Governor of Ondo State. By that decision, the judiciary has gone a long way to redress the odium which the conduct of some members in the messy contests that attended the massive electoral fraud of April 2007.
The courts have, once again, exposed the shameful parody the PDP visited on Nigerians in April 2007 in cahoots with a racketeering INEC leadership. The party congratulates Dr. Mimiko, the Executive Governor of Ondo State for withstanding the sustained pressure and blackmail that were employed to make him abandon his mandate for the vote robbers.
We see the happy ending to the Ondo case as a justification of the well-expressed feelings of Ondo people that they voted for Mimiko and not Agagu who stole the mandate in a very ridiculous way that he got palm kernels and other inanimate objects to vote for him in April 2007. We see the present decision of the court of appeal as proving once again, that what was passed as the 2007 election was a grand forgery of a desperate cult called PDP and its tool called INEC. The decision on Ondo has further brought out the farce the country’s electoral system was shamefully reduced to by the PDP and INEC, which led to the installation of illegitimate regimes of electoral thieves in many states that never ever voted for the PDP.
We want to use this opportunity to restate our position that the continued stay of Maurice Iwu, the very purveyor of electoral fraud as the chairman of INEC after the rouge elections he conducted in Nigeria in April 2007, inflicts serious credibility problems on the country’s electoral system. If Iwu, in the quest to satisfy his hunger has not found enough courage to resign after the dirty collaborative work he did with the PDP in 2007 to corrupt and criminalize the country’s electoral system, we see no reason why the present Yar’Adua government pretends that it is oblivious of the danger Iwu poses to the Nigerian electoral process by his continued desecration of the office of the chairman of INEC. We therefore demand the immediate removal of Iwu and his prosecution for the wholesome fraud that has made nonsense of the so-called elections of April 2007. Through the deliberate scam Iwu and the PDP visited on Nigeria, the country’s electoral system has been so disorganized that we fear each state will have to have its individual election dates. This is not to talk of the years lost to impostors and electoral thieves who never were elected but wielded the mandates of the people before they were thrown out.
The continued upturning of stolen electoral mandates that were violently stolen from the people, especially in the South West, is also an indictment on the do and die brand of politics which the erstwhile Obasanjo regime promoted and indeed enforced through the most callous manner. This was what brought several impostors like Agagu to power in many states and accounts for the artificial victories, which the PDP flaunts so impudently about.
We urge Mimiko to ensure that Ondo is put on sound footing again, after the fall of the impostor regime of Agagu and we charge him to make sure that Ondo State is well governed after the Agagu misadventure. We call for the prosecution of Agagu and the INEC staff that collaborated to steal for him the mandate that belongs to Mimiko. We state that not punishing electoral offenders emboldens prospective electoral robbers and they abound in great number in the PDP.
Thanks@ Omotaylor.i know that Mimiko government will eradicate poverty in Ondo State.Mimiko said that nobody will go to bed in pain (AMEN).Im 100% sure that Mimiko will do his best to make Ondo state people Happy.i heard one thing from Mimiko when i was in stadium and that really concern me.is about Scholarship for student in University. Thank you Sir.Dr Olusegun Mimiko.whatever you lay your hand on will succeed in Jesus name. Governor of our time.people choice,Ajasegun of Ondo State.
GOOD RIDDANCE AGAGU. YOU WONT BE MISSED IN ONDO STATE: READ THIS PUNCH PIECE:
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 Printer Friendly Version
Agagu leaves Government House amidst tight security
By Sunday Aborisade and Femi Makinde, Akure
The ousted governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, on Monday fled the Government House, Akure immediately Dr. Olusegun Mimiko was announced as the duly elected governor of the state by the Court of Appeal sitting in Benin.
The ousted governor was whisked out of the Government House amidst tight security.
His advance party which comprised about five vehicles, left the Government House around 12:48pm. The security men inside the convoy which drove through Oba Adesida Road/Oyemekun Road, responded to shouts of Iroko, Iroko from the supporters of Mimiko who were jubilating on the road.
The ploy to conceal their identity and to ensure smooth passage for their boss paid off as the jubilant crowd gave them smooth passage.
Five minutes after, the convoy of about 16 vehicles in which Agagu and his Chief of Staff, Mr. Femi Agagu, were driven emerged. His car, a Toyota Camry with security number plate was sandwiched by security men who were also shouting “Iroko, Iroko.”
However, some vigilant supporters of the LP, sensing that Agagu was in the car, started shouting, ole, ole, ole.
The occupants of the vehicles in the convoy remained calm as the drivers manoeuvred their way through some barricades on the road.
But some LP supporters loaded in four taxi cabs were seen pursuing and raining abuses on the ousted governor who ruled the state for almost six years.
A source told our correspondent that the convoy avoided passing through Ondo town, which is Mimiko’s home town but he refused to say where the former governor headed.
It was gathered that the former governor who celebrated his 61st birthday a week ago, remained at the Government House based on information that the Justice Umar Abdulahi-led panel was going to order fresh election in the disputed areas.
Meanwhile, the State Secretary of the PDP, Chief Adeyemi Adedipe, described the judgment as a temporary setback for the party. He said that the party would stage a come back in 2013.
Adedipe said, “We take the judgment with utmost equanimity. The party structure will remain intact and we shall be back. What has happened is a temporary setback.”
The leader of the Afenifere, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, described the judgment as a welcome development which he said would strengthen the nation’s democracy.
He said, “That is what we expect. It is the wish of the people and we are very happy about it. Judiciary is very bold and has rekindled the hope of the common man.”
The national Chairman of the Democratic Peoples’ Alliance, Chief Olu Falae, also said that the judgment was expected.
He said, “Justice has prevailed. The will of the people was upheld.”
YEAH, AT LAST NEW DAW IN ONDO STATE, WHERE THERE WILL BE JUSTICE, AND TRUTH, WHERE THERW ILL NO MORE BE SUFFERING OF THE PEOPLE
i thank god for giving us the king of all as our Governor
Our GoverNOR I WILL WANT U TO ACT WELL AND SERVE WELL AND FLUSH OUT ALL THE USELESS BEING IN OUR TATE
AAUA, AND ALL OTHE HIGHER INSTITUTIONS IN THE STATE SAY A BIG BRAVO TO YOUR VICTORY MAY YOU SERVE ONDO STATE IN GOOD HEALTH AND JUSTIC WITH PEACE
THANKS AND GOD BLESS
it was LIKE ADREAM COME TRUE THAT JUSTICE CAN STILL REIGN IN THIS NATION WHERE
AS A DEMOCRAT I IKOW U WILL SURELY RULE LIKE A JUSTICE MAN
IROKO JO GBASIBE!!!
im so pleased that justice prevailed at last in ondo state,my brother olusegun pls dont forget to step on toes as u always say,tell the people the damage PDP has done to ondo state and nigeria as a whole…i wish u all the best in your endevours..E RANTI ILE OOOO..
THIS DAY REPORTS TODAY ABOUT THE FORMATION OF A MEGA PARTY AND I NOTE THAT LP, IN EFFECT ONDO STATE IS ONE OF THE 11 PARTIES SO FAR TO JOIN THIS COALITION. PLEASE SHARE YOUR VIEWS ON THIS AND ALSO GIVE WORDS OF ADVICE WARNING OR EVEN YOUR CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISMS. THIS WILL REALLY BE APPRECIATED SO PLEASE FIND TIME TO SHARE FOR INFORMATION IS POWER. IN CASE YOU WONDER WHAT OMOTAYLOR THINKS, WITHOUT GOING INTO DETAILS, I WILL EVEN WELCOME A TWO PARTY SYSTEM I.E. THE NEW DEMOCRATIC AND INTEGRITY DRIVEN GOOD PARTY VS THE MONSTER IN OUR MIDST PDP – PARAPO DEVIL PARTY. PLEASE READ ON COURTESY OF THIS DAY NEWSPAPER
19 Political parties agree on mega partyFrom Chuks Okocha in Abuja, 03.26.2009Thursday, March 26, 2009The expected formation of a mega political party is gradually taking shape with a coalition of 19 political parties’ agreeing to come together. The parties include, faction of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), led by General Muhammadu Buhari, Action Congress (AC), Progressive Action Congress (PAC) and Tunji Braithwaite led Nigeria Action Party (NAP), Olu Falae led Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA). Peoples Mandate Party (PMP), Alliance for Democracy (AD), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Labour Party, Progressive Action Congress (PAC) and Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA)among others. The final decision will be taking in Lagos on April 7, where the name, logo and manifesto would be unfolded.It was also gathered that the group behind the mega party would decide to either fuse into a political party, or seek fresh registration from Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). But there are fears that the action of the proponents may be frustrated by INEC, hence the likely decision of fusing into an existing party. Spokesman of the group, Olubori Obafemi, in a statement, said proponents of the Mega Party have agreed to “form broad political movement that could engage the anti peoples’ policies of the PDP, and also contest power on a mega political platform.”MY FIRST WARNING FOR THIS ALLIANCE IS THAT THEY SHOULD LEAVE OUT POWER PLAYS AND ANTICS AND FORGET ABOUT THEMSELVES AND THEIR PARTIES, AND INSTEAD REMEMBER THE NAME NIGERIA, THAT REBRANDED NAME (DONT LAUGH), AND MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, THE PEOPLE.
Am glad that this question is made open by you madam. I wil also want to have the opinion of some people to this issue. I will post my comments on this tomw as am already working on information on this before now.
God bless Nigeria
Another story from the people called themselves Akure Agenda..I dont know may be governor mimiko always read what we posted on this site.Gov Olusegun mimiko i want you to take a look at this story and i dont want anybody to destruct your government because i want good for you..look at what happened to PDP..If a party want to stand it will be from Akure people and if party want to fall it will be also from Akure people..how can someone be an Aspirant and Leader of the party..that is wrong my Governor.you shouldn,t allow ABENA to destruct your party.i heard it from reliable source that ABENA want to choose his PA as Caretaker of Akure south Local Government..that is wrong and i also had it that Olori and others were present TUYKANA as Caretaker of Akure south Local Government..that is wrong..TUYKANA is a decampee..what will it be the profit of those people that have been there before.among the Aspirant if they are ready to chose someone as caretaker..i think the man that deserve the caretaker is IROKO KEKERE.i can barely said little about the man..this man really suffered for labour party in Akure.he brought the party from grassroot and to state level.look at what happened in ward 10 rally at Dr Bada house..well i was there that time..this time must be constituency 2 time..we need to make history in mimiko government.constituency 1 has been doing chairman for the past 33years in Akure south local government and they dont work than constituency 2.Vote that came out from constituency 2 is more than constituency 1..i dont want a situation whereby this people will destruct what you have done..They are wicked people and they are only fight for their own pocket,they dont ready to fight for the masses.whoever want to destroy Labour party God will destroy their life(AMEN)..picked OLUWATUYI (TUYKANA) as caretaker chairman of Akure south local government is a wrong thing to me..if they can,t picked IROKO KEKERE AS caretaker is better they give it to neautral person that is not a Aspirant..we dont need commisioner in constituency 2…we only want chairman to come from our side..actually in Labour party today i can said that im Leader too but when you dont have money nothing you can do..im among those who brought it up in Akure south..we are 10 in numbers when we started our meeting in Oja-oshodi but they dont know me..not that im condemmed TUYKANA.im just saying reality..TUYKANA dont deserve the caretaker..if you people want to give it to Aspirant..IROKO KEKERE is the person that deserve it..TUYKANA met him there..even he also met FALAYE there…IROKO KEKERE should be caretaker while FALEYE should be his Vice..all what u want to do dont help party and i dont want you people to destruct this party..pls and pls make Dr mimiko happy and work with him so that he can build for better Ondo state..Akure is big enough to be a Governor but we need unity.AKURE A GBE A OOOO AMIN….we need peace in Akure and Ondo state Generally…i will be happy if i could talk to Mimiko one on one..actually i might young for politics but i have experience to make things better..that is what they called politics. ADMIN PLS MAKE SURE THAT GOV MIMIKO READ MY STORY…. CALL ME ON 08034837079
My dear brother Lekan at Akure, first glad to hear from you for I do miss my fellow commentators on this site. Thank you for bringing up the name of my dearest brother Iroko Kekere for I have been wondering what became of him. Well I dont know much about your opinions above but one thing I know from reading your write up is that it sounded heartfelt and genuinely upsetting on your part.
I have also always wondered if our dear Governor reads our posts. I know he would be so so tied up with the business of “fixing up” our dear State, so I pray someone alerts his information officer to visit this site and pass worthy comments to His Excellency. As it is a government for the people, we the people have chosen to be involved via the net and you never know where wisdom will come from.
I am still waiting for your inputs and answers to my question on my mail dated 26th March above. Very important that we share.
@Ola, thanks for your support. I eagerly await your comments.
To my people, please let us all be patient, prayerful and content. Let us not let internal wranglings spoil a good thing. PDP must not say “I told you so” or “Ko tan nidi won”. Not everybody can be given positions. I do agree that the government of Governor Mimiko should consider the worthy people and be very
diversified. Nevertheless, it is only God that is a giver of all good things. Whatever God has sanctioned for us will never pass us by. Even if we feel cheated, let us continue to give 100% support in our own private ways to the Government of Dr Mimiko, for it is the people that we want to assist, and we want our State to become a model state and very successful. God will put all the right people in the right places in Ondo State, not for the sake of individuals, but for THE SAKE OF THE PEOPLE, AMEN.
PEACE MY PEOPLE FOR IT IS WELL.