There are indications that the governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko, has perfected plans to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Leadership newspaper reports.
The governor yesterday met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
If he eventually does that, it will be a major setback for the PDP as the party will lose the advantage of the incumbency factor which appears to weigh heavily in its favour towards winning the oncoming governorship election in the state.
Leadership reports that Mimiko is looking for a soft landing, hence his visit to the president.
Mimiko had spent one week at the nation’s capital prior to the release of the final list of governorship candidates by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday night.
Eyitayo Jegede, who was Mimiko’s attorney-general, had emerged the candidate of the Senator Ahmed Makarfi faction of the PDP while Jimoh Ibrahim was elected at a parallel primary in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, by the group led by Senator Ali Modu Sheriff. Both were engaged in multiple legal tussles until Thursday when an Abuja Federal High Court judge, Justice Okon Abang, decided the case in favour of Jimoh Ibrahim. INEC published Ibrahim’s name a few hours later as the authentic candidate citing the court ruling, effectively shutting Jegede out of the race.
Leadership reports that a source close to Mimiko disclosed that the governor had sought audience with President Buhari instead of an earlier arrangement he had with the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, for ‘peculiar reasons’.
‘’We were actually discussing with the candidate, but you know this is an intricate issue, that we need to encourage him to seek audience directly with the president instead of Akeredolu for some peculiar reasons that have to do with trust and mutual respect.
‘’This is politics; we have decided to make the president understand that his party needs us to defeat the AD (Alliance for Democracy) candidate who is heavily funded from Lagos. But how, when? That is the issue.
“Certain things have to be tabled for discussions and commitments extracted, but, in a matter of days, events will unfold as to where exactly. They may not like it, but that is the truth. We have held very fruitful discussions with the president and we are confident that he understood our position,’’ he said.
But speaking to State House correspondents after the meeting with the president, Mimiko expressed reservations over the ability of INEC to conduct a credible election in the state.
The governor based his assertions on the announcement yesterday by the electoral body that Jimoh Ibrahim is the authentic governorship candidate of the PDP in the forthcoming elections in the state.
According to him, the action of INEC is potentially dangerous as it can cause a breach of the peace in the state.
Mimiko said the president had promised to look into it and that if there is any injustice, it would be rectified.
He said: “Under INEC guidelines, the time for substitution of candidates has even elapsed. This action potentially can cause a breach of peace. In Ondo State in the last seven and half years, we have done everything possible to put good governance on the table. We see this action as potentially dangerous. It can cause conflagration in the state and that is why, as the chief security officer of the state, I have come to alert Mr President of the potential danger of this injustice so that we can nip it in the bud.”
On the protests in the state, the governor said he had been on phone with stakeholders to ensure they keep the peace in the state.
“I have assured them that this injustice will not stay. We will continue to explore all avenues to make INEC see reasons why this impunity must not stand,” he assured.
Asked if he still has confidence in INEC to conduct credible election, he said: “If INEC finds it difficult to obey a court order, a credible election starts with a process like this.”
Source: Leadership
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