ACN Tackles Mimiko Over Composition Of ODSIEC

The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in Ondo State, Southwest Nigeria, has condemned the composition of the state’s Independent Electoral Commission, ODSIEC, describing members of the body as staunch political associates of Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

Speaking through its chairperson, Barrister (Mrs.) Olajumoke Anifowoshe at a press conference in Lagos, The party alleged that the commission members are card-carrying members of the ruling Labour Party, LP, in the state.

She said: “The Commission members are card-carrying members of the Labour Party. Mr. Bisi Ogundipe, a labour activist is well known in Ondo State. So also is Mrs Joke Adebusoye. Mr. Adeoye Omolekulo is a card-carrying member of LP and lives with the Chief of Staff to the governor, Dr. Ademujinmi, while Mrs. Lola Adewunmi was a regular face in all the campaign rallies of Labour Party at the last general elections.”

“Apart from these LP staunch allies, the chairman, Dr. Gbenga Ige, lacks the qualification to be the chairman of the Commission. Section 4(2) of the law setting up the Commission states that: “the chairman of the commission shall be a person that has retired from a public office not less than the post of a Permanent Secretary or its equivalent, or a legal practitioner of not less than 10 years post-call experience. Dr. Ige’s current position at the university as an acting Dean is not equivalent to a Permanent Secretary’s position in the public service,” she averred.

Anifowoshe explained further that the way the ODSIEC members and the caretaker members of the local governments were sent to the House of Assembly and subsequently sworn in the same day did not allow members of the public to protest against any of them, describing the action as undemocratic.

She added that the ACN has no confidence in ODSIEC as presently constituted and that the party is yet to decide whether to boycott the forthcoming local government election in the state or not.

Anifowoshe, who described the Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, as a despot who is using all available powers of the state to fight the opposition, cited the recent stoppage of a popular radio programme “Oja-Oro” on a private radio station, Adaba FM, through the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) as a return to the dark days of military dictatorship.

She also condemned the way the governor kept the finances of the state under wraps, saying, “Even the Auditor General whose duty is to audit the state’s finances has abdicated his responsibility and has failed to present audited statements to the legislature since the inception of Mimiko’s administration.”

“Unfortunately, the NBC that is saddled with the responsibility of objectively monitoring and regulating station’s programmes gave the government its full support. We believe that the NBC has completely departed from its role as an independent and impartial arbiter in the dispensation of its functions but rather unwittingly become an agent of the government.

“There is no gainsaying that the governor has lost touch with reality by his recent actions in both public and private spheres. Here is a governor that is more concerned about activities of the opposition rather than the real issues of governance. Here is a governor who whose mantra of a caring heart is completely contradicted by his incoherent and aimless actions,” she said.

—Jamiu Yisa