Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun
Mimiko, in this interview with SUNDAY ABORISADE speaks about the recent
controversial Nigerian Governors’ Forum election and the roles he played
Some Nigerians are
apprehensive that the 2015 elections may not be successful because of
the inability of 36 governors to conduct a simple poll among themselves.
What is your take on this?
I must say that none of the governors is
very proud of what has happened. But some of us believe that it is
necessary that we ensure that things are done right in the interest of
our country. A few of us have also received a lot of bashing but we
believe that we must stand for what is true and just. The fundamental
question that will never go away, no matter how you look at the event of
that Friday is the fact that the governors’ forum is a voluntary
association; its an association of equals, who have voluntarily decided
to come together to pursue what their collective interest.
Do you mean it is not compulsory for all governors to be members of the body?
It is important that all members should
be able to abide by the rules and regulations of the body; otherwise any
member can choose to stay away. Anybody who is there by volition can
pull out without consequences to his status as governor.
Number two and this is one point that is
very fundamental: No matter the amount of propaganda that goes on in
the media, there is one issue that keeps coming up that we cannot run
away from. It is a situation, where a chairman of a forum of equals
decides to contest again, but the issue of whether that’s in tandem with
the spirit and the letters of our constitution is another issue. So,
that election to a very large extent must reflect the standard of
election in the polity.
Irrespective of whatever anybody says,
2011 elections were much better than the previous ones. No matter what
anybody says, the election that brought me and Adams Oshiomhole back was
probably the best we have had in this country. Once we can have
credible elections, it will throw up real leaders of the people, who
will work for the people and that the issues of development are
addressed.
But, there are video clips of the
election on how voting was conducted and counted, how come you rejected
the outcome of the process?
Governor Rotimi Amaechi presided over
his election. So, from the perspective of this fundamental, I will
analyse what happened on the day in question. Some of us argued: “Mr.
Chairman, you are there as chairman by volition, by consensus. If
willy-nilly, you say you want to contest election, then you must first
dissolve the house.” What was released to the public was a product of
manipulation. It was predetermined and disrespectful. I challenge anyone
to show to the whole world where I was captured casting my vote in the
video.
I specifically said, even in a village
meeting, or old boys’ association meeting, once we say a tenure has
elapsed and the presiding officer in this case, the chairman, indicated
interest, we must first of all dissolve the house. Then we will elect a
temporary man who will preside over the affairs until a new chairman
emerges. We must also agree on the process of that election, especially
in a voluntary organisation, where what we claim as constitution doesn’t
spell out clearly how it should be done.
The practice in the governors’ forum is
that the chairman always emerges by consensus. Also, the practice has
always been that the party with the majority among the governors will
produce the chairman.
But the result reflected the number of people present at the election.
We know as a matter of fact that the PDP
Governors’ Forum had endorsed Governor Jonah Jang. But be that as it
may, immediately Governor Amaechi insisted that he was going to run, we
insisted also that he had to vacate the seat as chairman, so that we
could bring in somebody who would now conduct the affairs of the house.
For me, that was fundamental.
I insist that you must see the full
video. Our meetings are quasi, informal meetings; if somebody out of
disrespect for his own colleagues, or because of some predetermined
notion decides to plant video, you should ask him for the whole video.
We insisted that, Mr. Chairman, if you
are insisting on running, the morality of the situation dictates that
you vacate that seat. In fact, Governor Peter Obi who was the
vice-chairman said he was not running.
The worst case scenario was for Peter
Obi to be there to conduct the election. We must first of all agree on
the mode of this election: Is it going to be by raise of hands? If it is
going to be secret ballot, is it going to be by ticking or thumb
printing? But Governor Amaechi didn’t only indicate interest that he was
going to run, he also insisted that he wouldn’t vacate that seat and
there was a lot of commotion in the house. At a stage, one of the
governors said, those of us that ran for second term didn’t vacate our
seats before election, but we pointed out the difference.
Yes, I ran for a second term but I
wasn’t the Independent National Electoral Commission; I wasn’t the one
that printed the ballot papers. You cannot be a candidate and at the
same time be your own INEC, and at the same time have the privilege of
producing the ballot papers! He knew the number of ballot papers he
produced; there were no serial numbers on them, we didn’t know the
number of ballot papers and he was also the one who brought the ballot
box.
So, for me, that was the point of
departure. Quite a number of us kept saying at that juncture that it
would be immoral for us to go on.
We were tempted to fight. At a stage, we
then said in the interest of this forum, let us give him the
opportunity to seat there, but if he was sitting there to preside over
this election, we would not use his ballot papers.
We then said it must be by show of
hands. We were still arguing when he said Okauru (DG of NGF) should
start distributing ballot papers.
There were two options open to us:
Either we walked out. But if we had walked out, there is a viral input
in that constitution which also says that the quorum is 12.
So, if we had walked out, there was no
guarantee that certain people wouldn’t have sat down there and called
the press to witness a ‘free and fair election.’ Of course, the other
option was the Nigerian way: Take the ballot and smash it; let there be
crisis.
But you also know that such behaviour is
not expected from a governor. Some governors were almost tempted to do
that, but we kept saying we should not do it in the interest of Nigeria.
It is better for us to come out and say we participated and keep
defending it and we know that time will bear us out.
I remember that I kept saying that the
process was immoral and that the outcome would be disputed. I cannot say
that some governors didn’t vote, but I am sure that what they counted
didn’t represent the opinion of governors there that day.
The information after the election
was that Amaechi won with 19 votes as against Jang’s 16. How would you
reconcile that with your submission that the result did not reflect the
opinion of the governors?
It would have been victory for Amaechi if everybody had endorsed the outcome of that election. This is absolutely important.
The day after the election-forget the
fact that Amaechi has succeeded in playing the underdog in the press and
you know journalists like victims and underdogs.
At times, if an aggressor is smart he
can translate himself to be victim. The following day, Governor Jang
called a meeting of governors, 18 were present, reiterating their
support for him. Now, 18 the following day, standing to be counted
physically as opposed to 19 in some dubious ballot papers which was
designed by a contestant.
The question I ask is, why have some
people decided to believe in a voodoo ballot process rather than the
physical people, who were there to be counted? But we are ready to take
whatever bashing that comes, knowing that history will bear us out that
you cannot be a judge in your own case.
It was morally wrong, conventionally
wrong and legally wrong for Governor Amaechi as a candidate to sit
beside the ballot papers, bring the ballot box and be the presiding
officer. If we subsume principles under propaganda, we will all pay a
price for it in 2015.
What is the way out of the crisis?
Like I said earlier, none of the
governors is happy with what is happening at the NGF but we are very
optimistic that we will come out stronger. I think the best thing is for
all of us to allow reason to prevail by doing the right thing.
My position on this issue is clear. It
is the turn of the North to produce the chairman and we should allow the
Northern Governors’ Forum to present its candidate by consensus. We
should just forget about ego and do the right thing.
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My Governor,I held you in high esteem before and I still want to continue holding you in very high esteem,what we see is what we believe. The whole world have seen the video of that election and it is clear who won hands down,if you want to continue earning our respect and support,show us your own video of the event for us to believe your comments,if not please rest the case and support Governor Rotimi Amaechi,period.
ReplyDeleteEnough of this political gimmics being played by Oga @ d Top.
Mimiko u are a beneficiary of the Jang presidency pdp conspiracy. Therefore ur acount cannot be impartial. Remember some pdp governors have already said that there was an election and Amaechi won. That sounds believable.
ReplyDeleteMIMIKO, Ole ni e!!! where and how did u bag your MBBS?
ReplyDeleteMimiko. Don't fight a lost battle. The facts are clear that there was indeed an election where u were present and presumably, U voted. Ameachi was not the person that conducted the election as u are claiming and he was not the one that counted the vote and decleared the winner. Pls show maturity and earn your respect on this issue. If there is a repeat, Ameachi will win again knowing that governors of Sokoto, Niger and Taraba will not vote for your PDP candidate. Be wise. Mimiko, be wise.
ReplyDeleteHear dis ''Man''. Mimiko! So u didn't vote. Who's music a u dancing 4? Oga @ de top? It is so sad dat 16 governors cldnt accept defeat. And de dogs among dem are still barking 4 nonesence. All what u said is lie. I dare u 2 present ur own video clip, if u can not, shut up ur gogoro mouth. S kurami.
ReplyDeletemr mimiko,can you please answer these questions? if jang won hands down would you stay on amaechi side saying the voting process did not follow inec procedure?.
ReplyDeletedid saraki stepped down and dissolved the committee during his own time? please stop making education looks silly.
Iloko, Have you forgotten that you are in acountry where a few has dealt with the majority somuch that 98% now reason with abnormal comlexities? How can some governors commite a crimial offence and some common,uninformed,corrupt member of the populace be talking in their support? What Ameachi and co did was pure crime. Planting a secret videon camera in Rivers state governors lodge venue of the meeting. its what can never happen herein Ghana. You cant start a football match with reviewed rules only known to you and the refree. The refree is go tobe tried for coniving aiding and albeting.Which is an offence under our regulatory laws. Yet this same character is shouting AND DEFENDING THE ILLEGALITY IN THE PUBLIC DOMINE. nija people make una shineuna eye oooh!
ReplyDeletei know dis is stale but mr anonymous u re just 1 ofd fools dat is supposed to be killed by boko haram ...............the man said present all the video clip not edited copy can u reason before u talk?
ReplyDelete