Dr. Olusegun Mimiko

The Ondo State Elections Petitions Tribunal, has nullified the election of Governor Olusegun Agagu of Ondo State, and declared Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the 14 April, 2007 election, winner of the election.

The five-man tribunal led by Garba Nabaruma, in its one hour, 15 minutes judgement, also ordered that Mimiko should be sworn in immediately as the governor of the state because he won the valid votes in 12 out of the 18 local governments in the state.

According to the tribunal, the Labour Party candiddate won 198,269 votes while the PDP candidate, Agagu won 128, 669 votes.

By this, the tribunal stated that Mimiko won 25 per cent of the valid votes in 13 out of the 18 local governments in the state, thereby fulfilling the constitutional provision, which states that a candidate must win at least two-thirds of the votes cast in 13 local governments.

The tribunal ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue Mimiko with the certificate of return as the winner of the 14 April, 2007 governorship election in the state, and thereafter be sworn in as the governor.

Commenting on the judgement, counsel to Mimiko, Wole Olanipekun, said members of the tribunal should be praised for their uprightness in upholding justice. He said despite the pressure on them to do otherwise, they were able to uphold the course of justice.

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Also commenting on the judgement, commissioner for information, Eddy Olafeso, described the judgement as a travesty of justice, adding that the governor would appeal the judgement. Lawyers to Agagu also said that the governor would appeal the judgement, a move that will stall the actualisation of the Tribunal’s order that Mimiko be sworn in immediately.

Agagu, while addressing the press after the verdict, said the battle was still on and that he had consulted his lawyers to appeal the judgement.

The battle to take over power from Agagu by Mimiko started over a year ago.

The  tribunal was constituted after Mimiko challenged the declaration of Agagu as winner of the election by INEC.

Part of the election results being contested by Mimiko and his party include INEC’s submission that PDP scored 53.2 percent of the total votes cast, while the LP scored 34.4 per cent.

The Labour Party in a swift reaction rejected the submission, adding that the 349,258 votes alloted to PDP and the 226,021 votes alloted to the LP by INEC, were not the true reflection of the people’s wishes.

The proceeding was a rivetting affair, with witnesses after witnesses giving evidence on ghost voters registration, illegal thumbprinting and inflation of votes. In one instance, it was found that many prominent people, including foreigners such as Mike Tyson, not resident in the state, were listed on the voter register and printing materials meant for other states were illegally used in Ondo State.

Activists this morning expressed satisfaction over the Ondo State elections petitions tribunal which declared Dr. Olusegun Mimiko the duly elected governor of the state.

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