Democratic Party may ruin the winning chances of President
Goodluck Jonathan in the state in next year’s general elections,
aggrieved politicians in the state have warned.
According to them, Jonathan should forget about winning in Ondo
if the State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, fails to abide by court
orders restraining him from carrying out activities that were
counter-productive to the PDP.
The Chairman, Ondo PDP Candidates Forum and a contestant for
the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Adekanmbi, told
journalists on Tuesday in Abuja that members of the group were
aggrieved with the manner in which Mimiko was going about the
state’s political affairs in preparation for next year’s general elections.
He noted that although the group was not against Mimiko, the PDP
would not garner the targeted one million votes for Jonathan if the
state governor fails to work with the aggrieved candidates.
Adekanmbi said,
“Dr. Mimiko can never solely win Ondo State for
Mr. President. The President needs Chief Jimoh Ibrahim and other
contestants for him to win. If he relies on Mimiko the PDP will lose
in Ondo because right now salaries have not been paid for the past
three months in our state.
“People are not happy with him (Mimiko) and he cannot even walk
freely on the streets of Ondo State. So is he the one to canvass for
votes for the President? We don’t think so. He is still our leader but
has to work with candidates to succeed. We say this because he
has failed to do the right thing, which is to bring everybody
together.”
Adekanmbi said the party’s primaries had been concluded and
candidates for elective positions elected, but wondered why the
governor would present another set of candidates who were
allegedly not elected by party delegates.
He said, “We are not fighting the person of Governor Mimiko who
is the leader of the party in the state. What we are fighting is the
system of how we do things in the PDP, particularly in Ondo,
because our party is different from Labour Party.
“As of today we have a court judgment delivered by Justice
Ademola and we have a court order which came in last Thursday.
But unfortunately, for the past one week Mr. Mimiko has
practically made the INEC office his government house, all in a bid
to induce the commission and to make it publish the names of his
candidates thereby flouting completely and disobeying court
orders.”
He added that it was embarrassing for a governor not to respect
court orders, but expressed the belief that INEC would do justice
when it comes to publishing the names of eligible contestants in
Ondo State.
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