Ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo’s spokesman Kehinde Akinyemi said last night that his boss did not meet Dr Olusegun Mimiko in Abuja concerning support for the Peoples Democratic Party (Pdp) in the october 10 governorship election.
The Nation had learnt that governors elected on the platform of the PDP were not leaving anything to chance in their quest to go into alliance with the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), ahead of the poll.
It was gathered that the PDP governors had purportedly reached out to former President Obasanjo to talk to the leader of the ZLP, Dr. Mimiko, to dump the ZLP and support Eyitayo Jegede, the candidate of the PDP.
Sources in the PDP said Obasanjo purportedly met with Mimiko in Abuja, but details of the meeting were still being kept secret.
The sources said Mimiko also met with a PDP northern governor last weekend.
It was learnt that after the meeting in Abuja, Mimiko flew to Akure to campaign for the ZLP at Ile-Oluji in Ile-Oluji/Oke-Igbo Local Government.
Another source said last week’s Federal High Court judgment that ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish the particulars of Agboola Ajayi may be the reason Mimiko is going into talks with the PDP.
A former spokesman for the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation, Mr. Segun Sowunmi, had told reporters in Akure that the PDP was not foreclosing talks with Mimiko.
He said Mimiko remained a key factor in ensuring the collapse of the ZLP structures into PDP.
Some chieftains of the ZLP were said to have vowed not to follow Mimiko if he opted to dump the party for the PDP.
The chieftains, who pleaded anonymity, said: “There is no longer trust among the ZLP leaders. Honestly, there is palpable fear in the party at the moment. We are scared that Mimiko may dump Ajayi at the eleventh hour.”
But Ajayi described the planned collapse of ZLP structure as a rumour sponsored by what he termed the drowning PDP.
He urged Jegede to be bold and honest to confess to the public that his campaign was not flying.
Ajayi advised the purveyors of fake alliance to discontinue using his name to curry favour from the electorate.
Ajayi, who spoke through his media adviser, Sowore Allen, said he had never worked with Jegede and would not under any circumstance work with him towards the October 10 governorship election.
All Progressives Congress (APC) has alleged that Mimiko, a former two-term governor of Ondo State, is plotting a third term bid through the ZLP.
Mr. Yekini Nabena, the deputy national publicity secretary of the APC, made the allegation in a statement yesterday in Abuja.
He said: “Mimiko was first elected as governor of Ondo State on the platform of the Labour Party on February 24, 2009.
“He contested as the Labour Party candidate and was re-elected on October 20, 2012, for a second term, making him the first governor in Ondo State to win a second term election since 1999.
“He, however, later defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before the end of his tenure as governor on February 24, 2017.”
The APC deputy national publicity secretary alleged: “A former two-term governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko, is plotting a third term bid surreptitiously through the Zenith Labour Party.”
He said Mimiko controlled the Zenith Labour Party as its sole administrator.
Nabena said it was therefore not surprising that the entire governorship campaign of the ZLP was centred around Mimiko, rather than its supposed governorship candidate Agboola Ajayi.
“Perhaps, Mimiko deludes himself that the good people of Ondo State have forgotten how they were subjected to his arbitrary, tyrannical and dictatorial actions when he governed the state.”
Ex-President Obasanjo’s spokesman Kehinde Akinyemi said last night that the former President did not meet Mimiko in Abuja.
“It is on record how Mimiko factionalised his then political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for his political divide and rule tactics in the party and government,” Nabena said.
According to him, under Mimiko, government projects and patronage were distributed based on political servitude not priority needs of the state.
He said this could be the reason most of his associates ditched him and are now front line leaders of the APC, in firm support of its candidate, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
Nabena said it was understandable that the ZLP’s governorship candidate had nothing substantial to campaign on after joining several political parties to purchase their governorship tickets to contest the October 10 election.
“For us in the APC, the good governance credentials of our candidate, incumbent Governor Akeredolu, is visible to all, particularly in the area of infrastructure, agriculture, human capital development, industry and entrepreneurship, among others.
“This is the focus of our well received campaigns.
“Governor Akeredolu’s first term administration has ensured prudency, accountability, transparency and blocked leakages, which have ultimately enhanced good governance.
“Ondo State has witnessed unprecedented and massive infrastructural development, culminating in over 300 kilometres of critical roads being constructed and rehabilitated,” he said.
According to him, Ondo State is one of the model states that is successfully domesticating and implementing the diversification and agriculture drive of the APC government with over 6,000 trained “Agripreneurs”.
He said Ondo people had confidence in Governor Akeredolu, who signed into law, a contributory health insurance scheme, which enables all classes of people in the state to have access to affordable health care services.
Nabena added that under Akeredolu, the people were better off and were poised to overwhelmingly return him to continue his administration’s good work on October 10.
The Nation