“OURS is a unique political scene peopled by men and women of integrity who will not succumb to undue external pressure.”
That was the Ondo State governor,
Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, speaking on Wednesday in Akure, the state capital, on the occasion of the official decampment of previous members of the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Nigeria Peoples Party to Governor Mimoko’s Labor Party.
Stating that his party’s popular influence in the state remains impregnable, the governor’s comments appeared to be in reaction to reports that another party known to be influential in the region was poised to upstage the popular and commanding position of the Labor Party in Ondo.
“The people of this state are knowledgeable and not sellable towards the next governorship election,” said the governor, explaining that the state is peopled by an independent minded and intelligent population who are not easily fooled. Such people, according to Governor Mimiko, can tell the wheat from the chafe without being led by the nose by outsides, no matter how influential such outsiders were
While receiving scores of members of opposition party members that included a women leader and former State Auditor of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mrs. Funmilayo Oludare, and the Ondo North Senatorial candidate of the ANPP, Mrs. Olufemi Olotu, the governor praised the people of the state for their ability to proclaim their political independence in the face of any manipulation.
He said: “The people of Ondo State are not for sale and they are not even sellable, the defection of these people is an indication that the people of the state appreciate the wave of development that is moving across the state and they people cannot be deceived by the antics of any detractor.”
According to the governor, who spoke through his deputy, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, the present administration had impacted positively on the lives of the people of the state and was ready to further contribute to the development of the people.
Receiving the people, Chairman of LP in the state, Chief Olumide Ogidan, urged them to contribute to the development and success of the party during the upcoming election.
He pledged that the party would give equal opportunities to them as there would be no preferential treatment on the basis of old and new members.