By DAYO JOHNSON

AKURE, the Ondo State capital stood still for over five hours as the state governor, Olusegun Mimiko, made known his intention to contest the October 20 governorship election.

Yesterday marked fourth anniversary of what happened on July 25, 2008 when the Election Petitions Tribunal presided over by Justice Garba Nabaruma gave its unanimous judgment declaring Mimiko the winner of the April 2007 governorship election.

Also, a front line governorship aspirant of the ACN, Dr. Olu Agunloye, defected to the LP with his Omoluabi network and endorsed the governor for a second term. Oba Adesida/ Oyemekun road venue of the event was filled just as thousands of party supporters across the 18 council areas of the state trooped to the venue for the declaration. The mammoth crowd spilled to all the adjacent streets with many others viewing from balconies of houses close to the venue just to have a feel of the ceremony.

Notable leaders across the country attended the declaration ceremony and they took turns to declare their support for the governor second term ambition. The leaders include the leaders of the NLC and TUC , lead by Comrade  Abdulwaheed Omar and Peter Esele respectively. Speaking amidst interjection by the mammoth crowd, Governor Mimiko said the need for second term in office was for him to consolidate the achievements recorded by his administration in the past three and half years.

*L-r: Afenifere leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti; founder, OPC, Dr Frederick Faseun; Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko; Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Dr Kunle Olajide and Chief Olu Falae at the declaration for 2nd term of Mimiko, at the Democracy Park, in Akure, yesterday. Photo: Joe Akintola.

Deepening of democracy

He said: “We desire to continue to contribute to the deepening of democracy in our land through clear-headed performance and delivery of the public good, and thus unravel efforts at substitution of sloganeering for governance that some folks are striving to enforce as culture among our people.

I desire to run again on the platform of your party, the Labour Party, undoubtedly the most progressive party in this country today; a party with extensive potentials anchored on the increasing knowledge among our people that the quality, depth and breadth of performance of government is the principal yardstick by which progressive politics is gauged, not by the depth of your capacity at sloganeering.”

While saying that he would not depart from the oath of office he took in February 2009, Dr Mimiko said “by the special grace of Almighty God and with your trust and confidence, I again declare that I will continue to work for you! Our desire is that by the time we shall be ending our tenure – at the end of the second term which we seek now – we, by God’s own grace, shall have fundamentally restructured governance in Ondo State through such glaring high achievements that the barometer of performance shall have been set at a level below which any future government would find it to difficult to operate.”

Mimiko recalled that he declared his intention to run for his first term on December 14, 2006 at Akure City Hallwhen he contested the April 14, 2007 governorship and exactly four years ago, the Election Petition Tribunal declared him the winner of the election. The Appeal Court presided over by Justice Umaru Abdulahi also affirmed the judgment of Justice Nararuma on February 23, 2009 which made the declaration of next day possible.

He noted that on each of these occasions “I made a broad commitment to work for you, the good people of Ondo State. I give thanks to God that three and half years on, we have, by the grace of God, lived by that commitment.”

Mimiko said: “During these three and half years, we made the people of Ondo State the central focus of governance. We emplaced a string of people-oriented projects. We, by the sheer magnitude and quality of our projects, benchmarked Ondo State for Nigeria , and indeed, in many respects, for Africa. We have raised the profile of governance and set a standard beyond which no government can afford to fall in our dear State. We have, by the grace of God, pursued activities that cohere with our vision of government.

“We have formulated policies that were informed by the collective interest of our people, executed projects focusing on the primacy of man in the scheme of development and, generally, we have democratized access to the good things of life for the people of our dear State.

“As we promised in 2009, we have not shied away from what we consider the obligation of government in a society like ours. We thus have delivered programmes directed, as we promised, at ensuing that ‘the weak in the society are given opportunities to develop and actualize their potentials. It was with the conviction the governments within the limits of our God-given resources and ability have kept faith with the electorate, that “I solemnly seek your mandate for a second term in office as Governor.”

Dr. Mimiko said that if given the mandate it “would make him complete several of the projects that were initiated during this first term, emplace a new string of programmes directed at enhancing the quality of life of our people, desire to use the next four years to lift up those of our people that are still left behind, and take to those cities and communities that are yet to have some of those projects of ours.”

Fasoranti, Adebanjo, Falae, others deliver solidarity messages

EMINENT Nigerians,yesterday, attended the second term declaration of the governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko in Akure, the Ondo state capital.

They include Afenifere leaders, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Chief Olu Falae, Dr. Fredrick Faseun, the National President of Nigeria Labour Congress, Abdulwaheed Omar, his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Peter Esele. Also present include the former Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, governorship aspirant, Dr. Olu Agunloye; Dr Kunle Olajide, Chief Sehinde Arogbofa, Senator Remi Okunrinboye who defected from the PDP yesterday to join the Labour Party.

Others include Yinka Odumakin, an ex Militant Chief Bibiborpiri Ajube, NURTW National Chairman Chief Gboyega Tomori and a host of other dignitaries.

Taking their turn to speak Afenifere leader, Chief Olu Falae, said he was at the declaration to publicly acknowledge Mimiko as his special political son. Falae said because of the performance of the governor the Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP) which he is the National Chairman would collaborate with him to win another term.

He said: “He (Mimiko) has done a good job in the last three years, I am not saying he is perfect but he has been exemplary, he has been an Omoluabi as most of his programmes are for the ordinary people. Some people are claiming that they are the progressives, they are not, we, Afenifere stand for progressivism, we are anything that is progressive, it is time for change and change is the name in progressives.

Another chieftain of Afenifere, Chief Adebanjo said: “I have been hearing about Mimiko from far and now I can confirm that the people of the state are behind him, we are also here to let you know that as you cherish Mimiko, we also appreciate him. I am an Awoist, Mimiko is an Awoist, who is an Awoist? He is somebody that serves the people. Awolowo laid the foundation and Mimiko is building on it. He is not among those that pay lip service to being Awoist.”

The founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, Dr. Fredrick Faseun, described the Labour Party, LP, as the most progressive party in the country with a progressive man at the helms of affairs. Faseun tasked the people of the state to troop out during the election to vote 100percent for Dr Mimiko.

The NLC president Comrade Omar who said he came with three messages for the people of the state appealed to them to ensure that the governor remains in office after February 2013 by voting for him and also defending their votes. He said: “It is ridiculous and stupid to have said that we collected money, we stand by principle and stand by the common man, we are backing Iroko for second term 100 per cent.”

His TUC counterpart Peter Esele said the congress was supporting Mimiko because of the visible transformation in the state in the last three and half years.