A level playing field in Ondo
By Tunde Akinola
On Tuesday, December 4, 2007, Ondo State was in the news for the wrong reason. On that fateful day, the whole nation was treated to a sorry sight as lawmakers turned the hallowed legislative chamber into a war zone. And when the commotion ended, one of the lawmakers, Abiodun Ogunbi, the Minority Whip (AD Akoko South West) was lying on the floor in coma. He was said to have been beaten with a fetish object by one of his colleagues in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The bone of contention then was an attempt by the then State Governor, Dr Olusegun Agagu to reconstitute the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) following the strange mass resignation of the Akintade-led ODIEC which had just been sworn in for a five-year term. The objection raised by the opposition members who insisted that the attempt by Agagu to reconstitute ODIEC was not only a contempt of court but that the submission of the new list of ODIEC members to the House for ratification constitute a breach of the Standing Order of the House to entertain the matter of such matter relating thereto since the case was still before a court of competent jurisdiction in the Assembly that led to violence. The House was to break up in disarray and had to adjourn abruptly.
Paradoxically, however, the matter was to continue at 7 pm that evening when only 6 PDP legislators out of the 26-member House came back under heavy security presence to ratify the members of the ODIEC illegally. That same night they also suspended, for four months, three of the opposition members of the House namely: Ogunbi who was earlier in the day assaulted Dayo Akinsoyinu (LP Ondo West II, Minority Leader) and Akinsiku (Ondo West I).
Going by the dust raised by the recent dissolution of the local government executive by the Dr Olusegun Mimiko led Ondo State government, it is obvious that a lot of people in the nation had forgotten so soon the fact that on December 15, 2007, when the erstwhile governor of the State, Dr Olusegun Agagu decided to conduct election into the 18 councils in the State, he did so in utter disregard for a subsisting injunction handed down by Justice Olarewaju Akeredolu of the State high court.
Even the build up to the vexed election and the drama that greeted the whole charade was as amusing as well as another sad pointer to the morass the nation has degenerated into on account of leaders who would do anything to have their way at all cost at the expense of the populace.
Justice Akeredolu had on November 1, 2007 restrained the Governor and Government of Ondo State from conducting elections into the 18 local government councils until the determination of the substantive suit before the court. The Judge gave the order while ruling on an application for an order of perpetual injunction against the conduct of the election by ODIEC filed by all the opposition members of the State House of Assembly consisting of nine Labour Party (LP) members of the House of Assembly and the only Alliance for Democracy (AD).
The plaintiffs had gone to court to challenge the purported nomination, appointment, confirmation and the consequently swearing in of Chief Elkanah Akintade and six others as Chairman and members of the ODIEC by Dr Olusegun Agagu insisting that they were all card carrying members of the PDP.
On 14 th of November 2007, there was a pending application seeking to join the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) and also asking that an injunction be granted against ODIEC from going ahead with the conduct of the election.
That motion was served upon the Secretary of ODIEC, the statutory person to receive such processes on behalf of ODIEC on 19 th November, 2007 at 10.00am.
Curiously, when the case came up for mentioning, the case file could not be found as the Ondo State Chief Justice, Mrs. Gladys Olateru-Olagbegi had surreptitiously withdrawn the case from Justice Akeredolu without her knowledge and that of the plaintiffs. This was sequel to complaints from the State government and the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that Akeredolu was bias due to her restraining order against the State government from conducting the election.
The new Judge who the case was reassigned to, Justice Nelson Adeyanju had also adjourned the matter to December 17, 2007 for hearing.
Again in another strange twist, the Chief Justice directed the Judiciary in the State to proceed on vacation for the year thus paving way for Agagu with a fait accompli to conduct election.
Paradoxically, however, the matter was to continue at 7 pm that evening when only 6 PDP legislators out of the 26-member House came back under heavy security presence to ratify the members of the ODIEC illegally. That same night they also suspended for four months three of the opposition members of the House namely: Ogunbi who was earlier in the day assaulted Dayo Akinsoyinu (LP Ondo West II, Minority Leader) and Akinsiku (Ondo West I).
Indeed, the Labour Party then was very critical of these obvious breaches of the law by Dr Agagu then that it had among others, warned against the conduct of the election as well as protesting to the to the National Judicial Commission (NJC) on the conduct of the Chief Justice of Ondo State for allowing herself to be used to breach the law of the land.
Notwithstanding all these however, government went ahead to conduct the December 15, 2007 not minding the pendency of the motion which had not been heard. Expectedly, the PDP swept the poll as all the other political parties boycotted the election due to the pending litigations filed against the conduct of that election by Labour Party (LP), the Action Congress (AC) and the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) as well as the subsisting court injunction against the election.
So to close watcher of events in Ondo State, it came as no surprise when the new Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko who was sworn-in on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 following his declaration as the Governor of the State in the April 14, 2007 election by the court of Appeal decided to dissolve the councils’ executive and legislative arms. Indeed, many have described the action as proper and a right step in enthroning constitutionality in the State. And underscoring this was the wild jubilation across the State when the news made the round that the councils had been dissolved as the people trooped out unto the streets hailing the dissolution of what they termed as “illegal, unconstitutional and undemocratic imposition on the State by Agagu.â€
Indeed, the Governor in dissolving the local government council administrations hinged his reason on the illegality of the conduct of the election in the first place and the need to bring about constitutionality into force and provide a level playing field for all political parties in the State. According to the dissolution order issued on his behalf by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Kolawole Olabisi, Mimiko stated: “In view of pending litigations 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.
“Directors of Local Government Administrations are ordered to immediately take over the administration of their respective local government councils and ensure the safety of government properties in such councils.â€
And from the legal point of view, lawyers are of the views that in a situation like this, the court is not bothered by the merit of the suit or whether or not of it (injunction) should be granted but will first proceed to set aside such an action designed to overreach the court by stealing a match. And that is what has been done in this instance.
According to Human rights activist and lawyer, Dr Tunji Abayomi, Dr Mimiko was very right in the step he took.. His party, the Action Congress (AC) also had a pending case against the conduct of the election. In his view, the ODIEC and all ODIEC officials that were constituted by Dr. Agagu’s government – all PDP members – have no constitutional authority to conduct local government elections since right cannot lawfully stand on original wrong.
His words: “They came to power by force and fraud; they were trespassers to constitutional office. Of course PDP and its so called Assembly knew of the illegality but it kept mute because as far as it was concerned, the end justified the illegal means.
“In 2007, the government of Dr. Olusegun Agagu began the process of another election into local government councils, the second time after unilaterally dissolving, again, the 2004 illegally constituted ODIEC. Of all the political parties entitled to partake in local government elections, only the PDP was interested. PDP had taken absolute control of the Local Government Council Administration by Chicanery and force, pushing all the other parties to a fait accompli. It has no interests in fulfilling the conditions precedent for general election at local government level such as proper register of voters. All the political parties refused the election schedule insisted upon by PDP government. PDP Government, however, insisted on going on, totally indifferent to the general wish of the people of Ondo State.
“In consequence, the other parties went to court, got injunction in 2007. But to defeat the law, Dr. Agagu quickly got all members of his second ODIEC (1st 2007 ODIEC) to resign, thus he rendered nugatory the legitimate order of a court of law. Meanwhile, his political officers began a most ferocious attack on the honor of Justice Akeredolu, insulting in addition, his noble and respected aged father just because she was judicial enough (not unlike Nabaruma of the election petition fame) to injunct an unwarranted election in total defeat of constitutional necessity for citizen participation.
“So it was, that, in 2007 alone, Dr. Agagu unilaterally dissolved or reconstituted three ODIEC’s, ODIEC of 2004 – 2007, 1st ODIEC of 2007 and 2nd ODIEC of 2007-2009 all for the unlawful aim of rigging election and establishing a government of PDP and by PDP over the good people of Ondo State. The interest of the people meant nothing, the wish of the law and Constitution counted very little to him or his House of Assembly in the unconstitutional scheme.â€
Also, Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) has backed Dr Mimiko’s decision to dissolve the 18 councils in the State. According to counsel to the DPA, Sola Ebiseni, who was also the Deputy Governorship candidate of the party in the April 14, 2007 election, the State governor was right to have dissolved the councils since the actions that led to the emergence of the body that conducted their election were illegal.
He opined that ODIEC which conducted the December 15, 2007 election was not properly constituted; adding that based on the on the judgment of the Court of Appeal which declared Mimiko as governor, Agagu’s tenure expired on May 28, 2007. he condemned Agagu for constituting three ODIEC boards within his four years in office.
His words: “What Agagu put in place was a caretaker committee at the local government level by the fiat of a de facto governor but not a de jure governor. The removal of the illegal contraption put in place does not require the concurrence of the State House of Assembly.â€
*Akinola, a Journalist, lives in Okitipupa, Ondo State
