Governor Olusegun Mimiko, the one they nicknamed ”iroko” (big tree) in Ondo State where he assumed power about two months ago, last week again scored what looked like another judicial victory with the Akure High Court judge, Nelson Adeyanju, approving the governor‘s dissolution of the 18 local councils in the state. Notwithstanding the legal rightness of the governor‘s act in respect of the 18 local councils which fell because Mimiko‘s predecessor, Olusegun Agagu, organised their election in disregard to a court order, many continue to see the governor‘s actions since he came to power in the negative light.
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Mimiko
When Mimiko was sworn-in as the fifth executive governor of the 33-year-old Ondo State on February 4, the people took to the streets in jubilation. But the people‘s ecstasy appeared to have been punctured by the governor‘s initial steps which many considered to be unpopular. Apart from the dissolved council’s chairmen who took up the governor for sending them packing from power, the governor had had confrontations with the state lawmakers who indeed threatened Mimiko with impeachment barely a week into his administration.
Today, many in Akure, the state capital, especially those in opposition to the Labour Party governor, are saying the man is heating up the polity. The governor‘s supporters, however, are of the view that Mimiko is merely trying to correct the ills of Agagu‘s years of misrule. The euphoria of the governor‘s court victory was yet to abate on March 4 when he quickly dissolved the executive and legislative arms of the 18 local government councils in the state. This move has continued to attract criticisms and has been described as a miscalculation by those who see Mimiko embarking on political vengeance. However, many believe that his action was in order considering how the chairmen and the councillors were foisted on the people of the state on December 15, 2007 in an election boycotted by major political parties in the state. There were at least three suits filed against the election and an interlocutory injunction given by Justice Olanrewaju Akerele against the conduct of the poll, but the then ruling People‘s Democratic Party-led government went ahead and conducted the election. And typical of the win-all attitude of the PDP, its candidates won all the offices contested for in the state, and the winners were quickly inaugurated the next working day.
Mimiko announced the dissolution of the councils on March 4, precisely 10 days after he became governor. He said that his action was prompted by the flagrant disobedient of court order by his predecessor in office. Curiously, the dissolution order was not signed by the governor, but by his spokesman. ”In view of pending litigation restraining the former Government of Ondo State from conducting the local government elections held on December 15, 2007 and the flagrant disregard of such pending suits which the government of Dr. Olusegun Agagu demonstrated by going ahead with the said elections, the Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has ordered the immediate dissolution of the executive and legislative arms of all the 18 local government councils in the state,” Bisi Kolawole, Chief Press Secretary to the governor, said in the statement announcing the dissolution.
Mimiko, who had earlier announced the freezing of all state government accounts, therefore, ordered directors of local government administrations in the councils to take over administration of the councils. The Chairman of the Ondo State chapter of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria, Chief Adedayo Omolafe, after a meeting vowed that his members would not relinquish their mandate. The affected politicians vowed to resist the governor‘s order with everything they had. The State House of Assembly also kicked against the dissolution and directed the sacked chairmen to return to their offices. Although the minority lawmakers at the House supported the governor‘s action but the House, in a statement signed by the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Mr. Kele Bolodeoku, spurned the governor‘s action.
Part of the House‘s statement read: ”This surreptitious act of total disregard for the rule of law is regarded by the House of Assembly as an act of gross-misconduct. Section 12(4) of the Local Government Amendment Act provides that: ”The Governor shall, acting on sanction of resolution supported by two-third majority of the House of Assembly dissolve any local government and appoint an interim committee to oversee its affairs for a period not more than three months or for such longer or further period as the House of Assembly may determine. The House of Assembly hereby resolves that the statement credited to the Governor purporting to have ordered the dissolution of local government councils in Ondo State is illegal, unconstitutional, and null and void and of no effect whatsoever. Consequently, the Ondo State House of Assembly hereby orders that all elected local government chairmen, their councillors and other political appointees remain in their positions and offices.”
By the counter order, the House thus set the stage for some strange dramas as the dissolution order, which was initially obeyed by the chairmen, was later rejected as the chairmen resumed for work at their respective secretariats on March 16. The police who had withdrawn security aides attached to the politicians also suddenly restored them, saying they were acting on ”order from above.” The crisis which followed the dissolution almost truncated the democratic rule in the state as Mimiko alleged that the PDP in the state was stirring up violence in order to prepare a way for the declaration of a state of emergency in the state. But the PDP Chairman, Dr. Tayo Dairo, denied the claim saying the governor lacked the power to unilaterally dissolve the councils.
This was the story that landed Mimiko and the sacked chairmen in the court. At the court, the governor asked the court to stop the sacked council bosses from parading themselves as chairmen, while the former council chairmen prayed the court to stop Mimiko from appointing caretakers for the councils. They also asked the court to order that the status quo should remain. But Justice Nelson Adeyanju who had on October 29, 2008 dismissed an application brought before him by the minority lawmakers that the purported LG poll of December 15, 2007 be set aside also gave an order on April 8 restraining the sacked chairmen from parading themselves as chairmen. He also warned them against taking possession of the secretariats pending the determination of the substantive suit. The judge also ruled that the status quo was that the sacked chairmen should remain outside the councils.
While many of Mimiko‘s supporters in the state continue to hail him for ”checkmating PDP forces” in the state, many persist in pointing to the governor‘s actions which they say are divisive in a state that should vigorously pursue reconciliation following two years of bitter judicial contest. Mimiko‘s critics are also quick to argue that the so-called ”PDP forces” in the state and Mimiko are merely two sides of the same coin. Hence, they said, nothing to cheer about. The new Labour Party governor was before the 2007 race a member of the PDP, on the platform of which he served both as Secretary to the state government under Agagu and later as Minister in the latter part of Olusegun Obasanjo‘s administration. Indeed, the governor parted ways with the PDP when the party refused him its governorship ticket for the April 14, 2007 polls.
These criticisms over the governor‘s alleged combative posture have indeed acted as veil over whatever achievements he has achieved in his few weeks in office. For instance, Mimiko is said to be vigorously pursuing his promise to give Akure, the state capital a befitting facelift. ”We have a dream about Akure”, the governor told the people days after he assumed power. He has since inaugurated a committee to oversee the implementation of the beautification of the city. A member of the committee said that automobile dealers would soon be relocated to a central auto mart which the government is planning to build. Also, spare parts dealers will leave their present Arakale Road and be moved to a central market. This is said to be part of the government‘s effort to decongest roads in the state.
The governor had also scored some public relations points too. He had facilitated the conferment of the State University honorary doctorate degree on Chief Gani Fawehinmi. The university, during Agagu‘s tenure, had written to the human rights activist that he, along other prominent Nigerians would be honoured but a few days before the awards, the varsity wrote another letter to Fawehinmi, dropping his name from the list of those to be honoured.
