Olusegun Agagu

The Labour Party (LP) has raised an alarm over the mass production of subversive materials portraying the Governor-elect of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko in bad light by the embattled governor of the State, Dr Olusegun Agagu for circulation within and outside the State beginning from Monday.

According to the LP in a release issued by its Director of Press, Mr. Kolawole Olabisi, disclosed that the subversive materials, which it described ‘as another in the series of Mimiko-bashing by the desperate Agagu’s administration,’ are in form of leaflets, postal and handbills, were supervised and printed in a multibillion naira printing outfit (names withheld) in Akure largely owned and controlled by Mr. Femi Agagu, the Chief of Staff and younger brother of Dr. Agagu.

Says Olabisi: “On Saturday, at exactly 8.30am, Femi Agagu in company of the Works Commissioner and bosom friend, Olaitan Ayeni and followed by heavily armed mobile policemen, personally took delivery of the freshly printed forged materials which included, letters, newsletters and memos made to look like they emanated from Mimiko on how he intends to run his government, incisive leaflets alleging that he had links with the Niger-Delta militants on how to share Ondo State’s oil wells to them as well as several open letters to the Governor-elect which were all written by some faceless groups all crafted inside the Governor’s Office by Agagu’s acolytes. The Party challenged Agagu to deny this saying that it will show to the whole world some of the leaflets already in its possession to back up its claims.

advertisement

“This is another in the arsenal of Dr Agagu in his desperation to drag the untainted name and impeccable reputation of Dr. Mimiko in the mud following the nullification of his phantom and pyrrhic victory at the April 14, 2007 election by the Election Petitions Tribunal which subsequently declared Dr Mimiko as the duly elected governor. We want the people of the State and Nigerians to be aware of this dastardly act on the part of Agagu who has become an absentee governor all in his desperate bid to compromise the judiciary at the appellate court as he now spends four days in Abuja in a week with huge cash seeking for what he termed ‘political solution’ to his case.”

While expressing regret that Agagu could resort to series of underhand dealings including sponsoring of fake advertorials in the media all intended to tarnish the image of Dr Mimiko before unsuspecting Nigerians, the LP spokesman stated that this type of brute tactics is not new to keen followers of events in Ondo State.

His words: “Shortly before the delivering of the judgment of the Election Tribunal, Agagu sponsored two Press Releases in some newspapers surreptitiously sent by Dr. Agagu through the official email address of his Chief Press Secretary, Yemi Olowolabi, in which he (Agagu) created an imaginary Niger Delta militant group (The Coastal Vigilante Force!) supposedly threatening to cause mayhem in the Southern Senatorial District of the State should the contentious votes from this area where he hails from and which Mimiko was asking the Tribunal to nullified duly to lack of lawful votes be voided and Mimiko is declared as Governor!

“This obvious and deliberate act of sabotage was one of the numerous breaches of the law that we had been crying out aloud to the security agencies in Ondo State over the last 20 months. And now, they are at it again sponsoring paid advertorials in the media using forged names and signatures of respectable citizens of the State, students bodies and non-existence groups to condemn the verdict of the Tribunal and when some of those whose names were used dared to protest, they are often visited with threat to their lives and hounded out of the State by Agagu’s goons all in their desperation to rape the nascent democracy and hang unto a mandate that was not given to them by the people of Ondo State and which the Tribunal had affirmed.

“Our advise to Agagu and his co-travelers is that it is not too late to take the sensible path of honour: resign and allow the rightful owner of the mandate, Dr Mimiko, to take over the mantle of the State so that the State can move forward as it has become glaring that Agagu has become inept and lost all initiatives as he can no longer steer the ship of the State as exemplified by his abysmal performance even in the face of ever increasing resources at his beck and call. Enough of using scares State resources on mundane things such as sponsored hack jobs in the media and in form of leaflets and handbills when the people go to bed with rumbling stomachs, where infrastructure are in total shambles, where there are no job opportunities and where all the industries are closed down.”

-------------------------------------------------------------