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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012
POLITICS PERSPECTIVE
LP’s loaded lies in Ondo State EXPECTEDLY, as the much anticipated gubernatorial poll in Ondo state inches closer everyday, the major political gladiators are up in the race to clinch the prime laurelthe governorship. It has however, come to the notice of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the state, the calculated and malicious attempt by the incumbent Governor Segun Mimiko and his Labour Party, LP to give the wrong perception to the public that we are out to undo him by all foul means. To achieve his ignoble aim, he has gone to town to hawk loaded lies on the streets of desperation for power. For instance, only recently the media was awash with the news item that as many as 10,000 party faithful of both the ACN and the PDP have defected to the LP. We wish to state here categorically that nothing could be further from the truth. It is pure fallacy because virtually all the politicians he claimed have decamped to the LP have been denying it all. One of such is Mr. Felix Rawa , the former gubernatorial aspirant of the ACN who Mimiko claimed has jumped ship to LP. He has since gone public to deny it out rightly. The same goes for Gbenga Akinsoyo (Garo), the erstwhile publicity secretary of the ACN who has similarly denied the spurious claim by the governor that he too had decamped to the LP. We have noticed, with utter dismay that it has become his stock-in-trade to lure potentially influential politicians with the promise to give them plum appointments only to renege at the twinkle of an eye. He is in the habit of dropping them like some filthy rags after he must have used them to his benefit. The most recent and indeed famous of such victims he has hoodwinked with the spider’s gift is none other than Olu Agunloye, another former governorship aspirant then on the platform of the ACN. After dancing himself dizzy at the recent public declaration of Mimiko’s intention to run for a second term, Agunloye was left handling the wrong end of the stick when the governor’s promise to announce him as his running mate fell flat on its face. The incumbent, Ali Olanusi was retained instead. Agunloye became a cheap pawn in the chess game that Mimiko has turned Ondo politics into. Unable to contain this rude shock, Agunloye has since removed all LP logos from his office in Akure and others across the state. Again, he must have learnt a bitter lesson on what it takes to swim with the
• Akeredolu By Idowu Ajanaku
sharks. But he is not the only politician of Ondo stock gritting his teeth or biting his nails over the crafty and deceptive disposition of Mimiko. On his part, Yele Omoguruwa, the former Commissioner of Works was promised a tidy sum of money that remained only in the realm of some distant dreams. He has now pitched his tent with the PDP . Not done, in his failed bid to cause disaffection amongst the stalwarts of the ACN, Mimiko at a time claimed that the respected Senator Ajayi Boroffice has moved back to the LP. To put the records straight, he too has gone public to deny that claim. While we recognise the fact that accessing political power in Nigeria has become one fierce battle all because of the winner’s penchant to dip his hand into the oily till for self serving reasons rather than to satisfy the wishes and aspirations of the electorate, we in the ACN are making the paradigm shift using good performance as the benchmark. Perhaps, even Mimiko may have enjoyed our patronage if he has performed creditably well. But he has not. That is the bitter pill that he has found too hard to swallow. Was it not the ACN he turned to when he was up the creek against the PDP without a paddle in 2011? Instead of curtailing his excesses and acknowledging the fact that he has not kept faith with the pledge he made to meet the needs of Ondo people as well serve only one term Mimiko is
busy using all manner of crude Machiavellian tactics to browbeat his political opponents. That will not work. Made worse is turning himself into a scaremonger. Using paid thugs to create a sense of fear amongst the people as exemplified by the recent attack on Barrister Akeredolu’s convoy at Oyemekun Road, Akure on his way to Owo could only back fire. Going to town to claim and falsely too, that ACN thugs attacked LP secretariat in Akure will not work. Over time, Mimiko has blatantly refused to heed the wise counsel from eminent politicians to change his style of governance; to embrace the contributions of others under a peaceful atmosphere. Such patriotic admonition had come from people such as Olaiya Oni the former chairman of the LP in the state and Ayo Abegunde, the lawmaker in the House of Representatives representing Akure South-West,the largest senatorial district in Ondo state. But like a self-destructive hunter’s dog he turned deaf ears to the concerned views of other stakeholders. Instead, he has been listening to his inner urges and of course the deafening drumbeats of sycophants. We have also noticed that the message, method and motive behind his recent campaigns are equally antithetical to accepted democratic norms. Using sheer propaganda to paint himself like a helpless orphan whose oily bean cake is about to be stolen from him by an intimidating bully is nothing but cheap blackmail. It will not work. Put in the proper perspective, the truth of the matter in Ondo state is that the ACN as a progressive purveyor of good governance has come out to intervene in the perilous political situation in the state. As a consequence, thousands of politicians are decamping daily from the LP to the people’s favourite. They too want to benefit from the positive impact of ACN –led state governments’ capacity to create over 30,000 jobs in the first one hundred days in office as has been proudly accomplished in Lagos, Osun and Ekiti states. That is what is making Mimko jittery, giving him sleepless nights and unfortunately making him to resort to giving under the belly punches to his perceived political foes rather than engaging in a redemptive mission. But even that is too late in the day. And it will not work.The good people of Ondo state will prove that come October 20, 2012. Ajanaku is director of media, publicity and strategy for the campaign organisation of Ondo ACN candidate, Akeredolu.
• Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and Ami Lustig of Israeli firm LR Group after they signed an MOU to establish a multi-billion naira 2000-hectre farm village in Rivers State ... yesterday.
Ekweremadu seeks extra powers for ECOWAS Parliament From Sanni Onogu, Abuja
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PEAKER of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament Senator Ike Ekweremadu yesterday called for the enhancement of the powers of the sub-regional law making body. Ekweremadu, who is also the deputy president of the Nigerian Senate, stated this while presenting a Draft Supplementary Act of the ECOWAS Parliament to the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Kadre Desire Ouedraogo in Abuja. He also called for the election of ordinary citizens into the parliament through electoral college formed by national parliaments. He noted that the Parliament which aims at accelerating and deepening the integration process within the sub-region is currently on transition and, therefore, do not make laws. He added that Article 4(2) of the Supplementary Protocol of the 115-member parliament provides that the parliament powers “shall be progressively enhanced from advisory to co-decision making and subsequently to law making role in areas to be defined by the Authority.” He lamented that whereas ECOWAS Parliament was the only supranational parliament with solid structure and prospects of transforming into a full legislative body throughout the African continent at the time of its inception in year 2000, it had remained a mere consultative and advisory Parliament whereas other regional parliaments it predated had either gained legislative powers or at the fringes of doing so. Apart from the European Union which he said had long assumed full legislative powers, he cited the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) as an example of a sub-regional parliament that have gained legislative powers in specific areas while the processes of transforming the Southern African Development Commission Parliamentary Forum (SADCPF), and the Pan African Parliament had reached advanced stages. He said: “The internationally acceptable best practice is to democratise the integration process by having a legislative Parliament that will make laws and conduct oversight to enhance transparency, accountability, and proper separation of powers.” Speaking on the salient aspects of the document, the Speaker explained
• Ekweremadu
that Draft Supplementary Act seeks the election to the ECOWAS Parliament by Electoral College and a codecision status with Council such that both Council and Parliament could initiate Legislative Acts. He added: “The Draft Act seeks the integration of Parliament into the Community Mechanism on Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Security and for the Parliament to be involved in Election Monitoring. “It seeks to empower the Parliament to oversight Community sector policies, confirm the appointment of Statutory Appointees, and strengthen interactions between ECOWAS Parliament and National Parliaments”.
Impeachment threat: Rep advises Jonathan By Dada Aladelokun, Assistant Editor
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MEMBER of the House of Representatives of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Dr. Ifeoluwa Arowosoge, yesterday advised President Goodluck Jonathan not to see the House as his enemy over the impeachment threat against him. The lawmaker representing Ekiti South West/Ikere/Ise/Orun Constituency told The Nation yesterday that it was a patriotic effort to put the Jonathan-led executive on its toes in a genuine concerted bid to move the nation out of the woods. Tracing the genesis of the frosty relationship between the executive and the House, Arowosoge disclosed that it was spurred by government’s lack of transparency on the nation’s financial status and the lopsidedness of the content of the 2012 Budget. His words: “We have nothing personal against Mr. President and indeed, the executive. The impeachment threat did not ensue overnight out of malice. It was a response to some unconstitutional violations. The executive was fond of complaining about lack of funds each the issue of development projects arose in recent times and at a point, we got worried and tired of such complaints. Thus, we felt the need to look into those agencies like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) among others, all in a bid to ascertain the veracity of such a claim. To our dismay, we found out that there had been enough funds. “Moreover, we discovered that Recurrent Expenditure swallows over 70 per cent of the 2012 Budget, leaving a paltry 30 per cent for Capital Projects, a situation we saw as unhealthy for any entity that wants to smell growth and development. Our overriding objective is to put the government on its toes with the ultimate aim of running a system that is responsive to people’s yearnings.” Arowosoge further explained that the development had nothing to do with partisan politicking because according to him, any elected public office holder reserves the constitutional duty to work for the good of his constituency, his political party notwithstanding. “My party, the ACN, is irrevocably committed to seeing the country through to the Promise Land. And it is what we members and indeed ambassadors of the party were taught to imbibe, not unhealthy partisanship in matters that demand honest patriotism.” • Arowosoge