Newspapers: Mimiko takes over in Ondo, vows not to fail

From Bayo Ohu, Kodilinye Obiagwu and Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City

TWENTY-ONE months of intense legal battle over the governorship of Ondo State came to an end yesterday with the Court of Appeal declaring Dr. Rahman Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party (LP) the duly elected governor of the state.

The ruling brought to an end the tenure of Dr. Olusegun Agagu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Mimiko will be sworn in today at 11.00 a.m.

In a judgment delivered in two hours 40 minutes by the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Umaru Abdulahi, which may be his last as he would be retiring before the end of the year, the court dismissed the 12 issues raised from the 127 grounds of appeal filed by Agagu over the judgment of the lower tribunal which July last year declared Mimiko as the duly elected governor of the state.

Abdulahi also upbraided the Nigerian Police and INEC both of which he said were supposed to be umpires but became partisan. He also criticised the two bodies for having filed appeals against the judgment of the tribunal even though he said it was clear their appeal would not have any impact on the outcome of the case.

Abdulahi declared Mimiko governor at exactly 1.50 p.m. when he said: "I therefore resolved all the 12 issues against the appellant, the 127 grounds of appeal from which they were formulated failed and are dismissed.

"The only appeal outstanding for consideration is that of the second respondent/appellant who can rarely claim to be an aggrieved party. The other appellants are nominal parties who have no stake as to the outcome of the appeal. It is none of their business to decide the person whom the electorate elect and consequently declared by the court to be the winner. The primary function of these purported appellants are to ensure that there is fairness and security at the election. Public policy demands that these two institutions do not descend into the arena and theirs is to tend the rope in the interest of peace and stability in the land. They should learn to remain neutral in the strive to attain order and neutrality bestowed on them by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

"I commend these appellants; the attitude of the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Navy who were equally joined as respondents but did not enter the fray to further complicate proceedings that were already complicated.

"In the final analysis, it was clear that all appeals lacked merit, and are accordingly dismissed. The leading judgment of the tribunal delivered on the 26th of July 2008 is hereby affirmed. It is therefore ordered as follows: One, that the election of the appellant Dr. Olusegun Agagu as the Governor of Ondo State in the governorship election of 14th April 2007 is hereby nullified. Two, the first respondent, Rahman Olusegun Mimiko, having satisfied the requirement of Section 139 (2) A, B of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, by virtue of Section 147 (2) of the electoral Act 2006, is hereby declared the Governor of Ondo State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. There should be no cost as each party should bear its own cost."

Olusegun Mimiko who was in tears, apparently of joy, after the judgment, pledged not to disappoint the people of the state who he said had maintained their faith in him throughout the legal tussle. He also thanked President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua for allowing the judiciary to do its work without interference. "I thank God Almighty for a day like this. It has been long, we have put our faith in God and the judiciary and we have not been let down, we thank God Almighty.

"I must also thank the President of Nigeria for allowing the judiciary to brace up this time, I must thank the people of Ondo State and all well-wishers in Nigeria for standing by us in those very tough times of the struggle. They have demonstrated faith in the judiciary, faith in democracy. All I have to say is that I know I carry an unusual burden, we turn to the people that have been worthy of their support and I pray to God that I will not fail them."

The court premises were taken over by security personnel as early as 6.30 a.m. with a bomb disposal van packed at about 10 metres from the gate to the court situated along Auchi Road, Ikpoba Hill Benin, the Edo State capital.

A Toyota Hilux Van with registration number AM 807 DGE mounted with a sub-machine gun was stationed directly opposite the court building entrance while stern-looking but polite uniformed and plain-clothes security operatives searched accredited persons at the gate.

There was massive presence of supporters of both parties early in the court with the Ondo State chairman of the PDP, Chief Tayo Dairo, leading the ousted governor's team which included his Commissioner for Information, Eddy Olafeso; Attorney General, Yemi Alao; South West chairman of the PDP, Tajudeen Oladipo; former Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Bakita Bello and other party supporters.

Mimiko entered the court room at exactly 12 minutes past 9 and was accompanied by the National Chairman of the LP, Dan Iwayanwu and the Secretary, Abdulkadir Abdulsalam.

Also with him were Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Vice President, Isa Aremu and other party chieftains.

Wole Olanipekun (SAN) led 34 others, including Femi Falana, to stand for Mimiko, while Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) led 18 others to stand for Agagu.

Abdulahi Ibrahim (SAN) led eight other lawyers to defend the PDP while on the part of INEC, J. B. Dawodu and seven other lawyers argued their case and D. A. Idachaba stood in for the Police.

Mimiko, dissatisfied with the outcome of the election had approached the State Election Petition Tribunal to challenge the purported election of Agagu. Mimiko alleged massive rigging and other malpractices by the PDP in connivance with INEC and subsequently asked the tribunal to annul Agagu's election and declare him as the duly elected governor of Ondo State.

Led to the witness box by his lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun, Mimiko asked the Justice Garba Nabaruma-led five-man tribunal to declare him the winner because, to him, he scored 84,635 valid votes in excess of Agagu's.

According to Mimiko, "Agagu was illegally declared winner and unduly returned by the state Resident Electoral Commissioner despite the fact that the total number of votes lawfully scored by him (Agagu) was only 108,999 of the 368,532 lawfully cast votes at the election. I scored 193,634 lawful votes, meaning that I had 84,635 votes more than Agagu."

However, Agagu's lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi, a senior advocate, did not cross-examine Adrian Forty, a British handwriting and fingerprint expert called as witness by Mimiko. Fagbemi simply said the report was "deemed as read". Analysts had expected Fagbemi to subject the fingerprint expert to rigorous cross-examination the way INEC and PDP counsel did at the Ekiti tribunal. The thinking is that such a drill would have triggered a Freudian slip from Forty that could work in favour of PDP.

The tribunal in the unanimous judgment read by its chairman, Justice Garba Nabaruma, held that Mimiko scored the majority of lawful votes cast during the election as claimed by him in the petition.

He said based on the findings of the panel, the election of the contested wards of Akoko North-East, one out of 10 wards of Ose, four wards of Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo, five wards of the 11 wards of Odigbo and some wards of Akure North had been nullified.

Nabaruma said there were no disputes on the results of the election in areas not mentioned by Mimiko in his petition meaning that the results of the exercise was accepted by all parties.

He said the petitioner proved his case beyond reasonable doubt and that there were malpractices in almost all the areas listed in his petition.

Giving the summary of the lawful votes scored by the petitioner and the first respondent (Agagu) in all the 18 local government areas of the state, Nabaruma said the LP scored 198,269 and PDP 128,669. The judge said the lawful results of the poll indicated that the petitioner scored 25 per cent of the total votes cast in 13 out of the 18 local governments while Agagu scored at least 25 per cent in nine local governments.

The tribunal therefore nullified the return of Agagu as the winner of the April 14, 2007 election by the INEC) and declared Mimiko as the winner of the poll.