SEGUN OJO
A former Commissioner for Finance in Ondo State, Segun Ojo, has alleged that the state Governor, Mr. Olusegun Mimiko, has received N2 billion from President Goodluck Jonathan in order to rig the presidential election in the southwest for the incumbent president, who is the Peoples Democratic Party flag bearer.
Mr. Ojo claimed that the governor, who was elected on the ticket of the Labor Party but defected to the PDP late last year, had finalized plans for rigging the elections in Ondo, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Lagos, and parts of Edo States.
The ex-commissioner, who made the allegation during a chat with a correspondent of SaharaReporters in Akure, the Ondo State capital, insisted that the said sum was given to the state governor to implement the rigging process.
According to him, Governor Mimiko had disbursed seven million naira to each of the PDP wards in Ondo State just as he accused the governor of recruiting “political thugs” to strategize on ensuring that the president wins Ondo State at all cost.
“Governor Mimiko can’t lie to me that he didn’t received two billion naira. The money is now been dispatched ward to ward for the purpose of rigging this presidential election”, said Mr. Ojo. He added, “We all can see that the governor has been moving with his agents from one local government to another in the name of gathering support for President Goodluck Jonathan, doling out funds for people to vote the PDP candidate.
“I bet, President Goodluck Jonathan and his PDP candidates can’t win elections in Ondo State because the people have seen that they were only been cajoled and deceived by the PDP. They know PDP is a failure in Ondo State, and Mimiko came to the party for further destruction”.
Mr. Ojo, who served as a finance commissioner under the administration of late Governor Adebayo Adefarati, criticized Mr. Mimiko for betraying many of his associates who have now left him for the All Progressives Congress (APC). He added that many of the governor’s former allies even regretted working with him during his days in the LP.
“Go and ask people who knew the journey of how Raman Mimiko became the governor of Ondo State. They will tell you that he is never a man someone can trust with his own life. We know what we lost for bringing Mimiko into government. He later became the governor, after many people sold their house, properties and some even lost their life for his ambition. He started witch hunting the people that helped him into power.
“He forgot the fingers that fed him while the road was still very rough. Already, he has failed and if there is anything you can compare him with, it is ‘evil’ because he deserves nothing more from the people of the state than to send him and his Jonathan parking”, Mr. Ojo said.
The former commissioner, who is now an APC member, claimed that 18 political parties in the state were ready to support the candidature of General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) of the All Progressives Congress and his running mate, Yemi Osibanjo.
“Buhari must come as president, Mimiko must go as governor. We are ready to show Mimiko out of Ondo State, and if Jonathan is sent parking, our betrayer Governor Mimiko knows he is leaving as well. He has been following the President up and down like a loose dog, lavishing the resources of the state on trips and private costs while civil servants and people of the state are languishing in poverty”, Mr. Ojo claimed.
He boasted that Mr. Buhari would garner more votes in Ondo than incumbent President Jonathan.
He pointed out that his political organization, “Ondo State Rainbow Coalition”, was working alongside APC party leaders to sensitize residents of the state on the need to send the PDP government packing.
“I can assure you that we would use the current crisis rocking the PDP in Ondo State to gain more support for General Muhammadu Buhari”, said Mr. Ojo.
On the recent endorsement of Mr. Jonathan by some southwest leaders, he had this to say: “Nigeria of today is now different from the one of yesterday. Those elders were bought with dollars and they sold their conscience, especially those parading themselves as Afenifere. It’s a big shame”.