It is evident to all who care to look well enough that our country
is today at a critical historical juncture. Challenges that in regular
climes and under normal circumstances should have been corporately
addressed for the good of the land are now being further deepened and
tossed up as elements in political brinkmanship. Our fault lines as a
nation are being further cemented on the altar of partisan bickering.
Yet, the nation goes on hurting; and our democratic institutions go on
cranking under undue pressure.Even so, I am so very well persuaded that
if we manage to remain on this democratic governance track, warts and
all, Nigeria has a good chance of living above its present challenges.
It may indeed, be on to creating an enduring and responsive system, to
which the interest of our people, especially the weak and the
disadvantaged, would be the singular concern.
This is why, for me, perhaps the most critical task before us as a
people today is to ensure the survival of our extant democracy project.
It is in this broad context that we situate our current engagement in
the Nigerian political firmament. It is also this that has made support
to the emergent Goodluck Jonathan tendency in this same firmament quite
imperative.
It is on record that soon after he became president, Dr. Jonathan made a public commitment to ensure that elections in our country become and remain free and fair. Of course, it is trite to aver that without a credible electoral process, Nigeria’s, and indeed, any country’s programme of democratization remains but a mere mirage. Four years on, and with at least four governorship elections held, it is evident that Mr. President has shown fidelity to his solemn commitment on clean elections. Notwithstanding the fact that his party was always a strong contender in all of the gubernatorial elections conducted under his watch, President Jonathan has kept his words.
Any doubt about the President’s democratic credentials, must have been sufficiently erased with the recent Osun State governorship election. Though the stakes were considered to be quite high, Mr. President, against all temptations, chose not to influence the process. He chose to keep his words. Thus, even when the President’s party lost the election, President Jonathan, as he is wont to do, was quick to congratulate the winner – a deliberate effort at entrenching a democratic culture. It was such profound a statement of commitment to democracy that we cannot and should not wish away even in the face of tempting partisan pressures.
Permit me to state that we have always supported the Jonathan Presidential project. In 2011, even from our LP platform, we endorsed, worked for and voted massively for him. This did not prevent us for working for LP candidates where it fielded candidates and in subsequent polls. With the 2015 INEC time table, which put Presidential and National Assembly elections on the same day, it has become obvious that the type of support we need to give President Jonathan without creating conflict of interest is better canalised through the President’s political party, the PDP.
Our support for the President will, in the light of the above, not jeopardise the legitimate electoral aspirations of our teeming supporters and associates.
More than this, President Jonathan’s intervention in critical sectors as contained in his Transformation Agenda is on track.
For instance, the power sector reform is being pursued with such uncommon political will that a new breeze of investor confidence and some early results have Nigerians hope that the monster of power insufficiency that has contributed substantially to hold our progress captive is being tamed and may soon become history.
In the Agriculture sector, the Jonathan reform has been driven in the direction of diversification of our economic base with impressive early results – reduced food imports, increased investment in agriculture, both local and foreign and democratization of access to agric inputs. To achieve the latter goal, the Jonathan administration had to demolish one of the enduring citadels of corruption in our land – the fertilizer procurement/distribution system. This is a credible, evidence-based contribution to the fight against yet another monster, systemic corruption that has held our development hostage.
In the transportation sector, massive developments have been engendered in rail, road and air transport infrastructure. We have also seen some progress in the health, education, housing, MSMSEs and indeed many other sectors of the economy. These efforts of the Jonathan Presidency are yielding results. They need deepening and sustenance and we are inclined to be part of the glorious future that we envisage.
At any event, one thing that Nigeria’s political history has demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt is that the nation has always moved in the direction of a two-party system. The current dispensation has thrown up the PDP and the fledgling APC. Smaller parties are thus constrained at operating only at the fringe of the political process with all the restrictions thereto for greater political involvement and action.
Historically, every attempt to build a third force in this bipolar environment has not only been quite expensive but actually met with muted success. What is more, the argument is unassailable that the two party dominant system has always worked to enhance national unity and facilitated the process of nation-building as all key players are invariably compelled to work within either of the two dominant parties without regard to religious, regional and ethnic specificities. Aligning with either of the two dominant political forces in the current dispensation is, therefore, in the circumstances, the correct democratic position to take at this historical juncture.
The two critical poles emergent in the political geography of the nation today have been with distinct tendencies and orientations. While there is noticeable effort to widen the space for internal democracy in one, the reverse seems to be the case in the other.
It must be pointed out that this tendency at democratic governance was one reason that made the PDP so attractive, and accounted for our reason to take its membership, in 2003.
Unfortunately at some point in the party’s history, that room for democracy got greatly conscripted. Thus, some eight years ago, when we had need to run for office and the space for internal democracy within PDP had considerably shrank, we chose to leave, but then, not to align with the then emergent opposition party in the land, the ACN. Rather, we chose to move away from both and pick up Labour Party, a party that was quite modest in its aspirations for national elective offices and completely unknown in Ondo State where we wanted to run for office.
Precisely on December 14, 2006, we publicly announced LP as our choice of platform. To the glory of God, four months later, in the April 14, 2007 election, we got the mandate of our people to govern Ondo State. Although our election was stolen by the political tendency in power in Abuja at the time, thanks to a judiciary that continues to be profoundly alert to its duty in a democracy, we managed to retrieve our mandate two years later.
Today, just barely one year into our second term in office, it is obvious that we do not have any office to run for either now or in 2015. Yet, we feel compelled to join hands with the tendency that is aboard today in the PDP, led by a President that is as focused as he is patriotic, a team that has demonstrated so much promise in its commitment to democracy without which the challenges facing our nation cannot be overcome. And as someone who is positioned today by providence to speak for the people of Ondo State and our collaborators and admirers across the nation, I do not have any doubt whatsoever in my mind that the interest of our people in Ondo State, the South West Zone and that of Nigeria too, will be better served in the PDP in the evolving political configuration in our nation.
Our immediate target is to help the process of getting President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan elected. We hope to be part of a process of creating, especially in the South West, a solid and robust platform of involvement in the election of the President, governors and legislators and post election governance structure which will help to engender rapid socio-economic development.
It is in the light of the foregoing that I, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, following extensive consultations across the land, today formally announce the decision of members of National Assembly from the LP in Ondo State, members of the LP in the Ondo State House of Assembly, members of the State Executive Council and indeed all those who share our aspirations, to join the PDP.
This decision arose after a period of consultation with major stakeholders in Ondo State, which include the aforementioned as well as traditional and religious leaders, market men and women, artisans, trade unions and community as well as party leaders.
I must confess that it surely was tempting and perhaps more fulfilling to continue as a national leader in our smaller, calmer and quite promising ocean represented by the Labour Party. But this decision to return to the PDP, we have taken in the overall interest of our people and our nation, and its democracy which for those who are perceptive enough to notice, is now mortally endangered by a constellation of forces which must be confronted. May I then add, that we take this epochal decision conscious of the fact that no political party in Nigeria today is anywhere near the point of perfection. But we are persuaded that joining hands with other Nigerians, committed as they are at repositioning the PDP on a continual basis, is the appropriate thing to do today. And considering that it was under this same PDP that I was privileged to serve, first as Secretary to the Government of Ondo State and later as Minister of Housing and Urban Development from July 2005 – December 2006, this is for us a homecoming of sort.
I thank President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR, for making this choice so compelling by the way and manner he has used power and supported democracy these past years. I thank the leadership of our party, the PDP, for their doggedness. I today make a solemn pledge to join hands with you all our esteemed leaders in persuading other Nigerians to re-elect our President for a second and most deserving term.
It is on record that soon after he became president, Dr. Jonathan made a public commitment to ensure that elections in our country become and remain free and fair. Of course, it is trite to aver that without a credible electoral process, Nigeria’s, and indeed, any country’s programme of democratization remains but a mere mirage. Four years on, and with at least four governorship elections held, it is evident that Mr. President has shown fidelity to his solemn commitment on clean elections. Notwithstanding the fact that his party was always a strong contender in all of the gubernatorial elections conducted under his watch, President Jonathan has kept his words.
Any doubt about the President’s democratic credentials, must have been sufficiently erased with the recent Osun State governorship election. Though the stakes were considered to be quite high, Mr. President, against all temptations, chose not to influence the process. He chose to keep his words. Thus, even when the President’s party lost the election, President Jonathan, as he is wont to do, was quick to congratulate the winner – a deliberate effort at entrenching a democratic culture. It was such profound a statement of commitment to democracy that we cannot and should not wish away even in the face of tempting partisan pressures.
Permit me to state that we have always supported the Jonathan Presidential project. In 2011, even from our LP platform, we endorsed, worked for and voted massively for him. This did not prevent us for working for LP candidates where it fielded candidates and in subsequent polls. With the 2015 INEC time table, which put Presidential and National Assembly elections on the same day, it has become obvious that the type of support we need to give President Jonathan without creating conflict of interest is better canalised through the President’s political party, the PDP.
Our support for the President will, in the light of the above, not jeopardise the legitimate electoral aspirations of our teeming supporters and associates.
More than this, President Jonathan’s intervention in critical sectors as contained in his Transformation Agenda is on track.
For instance, the power sector reform is being pursued with such uncommon political will that a new breeze of investor confidence and some early results have Nigerians hope that the monster of power insufficiency that has contributed substantially to hold our progress captive is being tamed and may soon become history.
In the Agriculture sector, the Jonathan reform has been driven in the direction of diversification of our economic base with impressive early results – reduced food imports, increased investment in agriculture, both local and foreign and democratization of access to agric inputs. To achieve the latter goal, the Jonathan administration had to demolish one of the enduring citadels of corruption in our land – the fertilizer procurement/distribution system. This is a credible, evidence-based contribution to the fight against yet another monster, systemic corruption that has held our development hostage.
In the transportation sector, massive developments have been engendered in rail, road and air transport infrastructure. We have also seen some progress in the health, education, housing, MSMSEs and indeed many other sectors of the economy. These efforts of the Jonathan Presidency are yielding results. They need deepening and sustenance and we are inclined to be part of the glorious future that we envisage.
At any event, one thing that Nigeria’s political history has demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt is that the nation has always moved in the direction of a two-party system. The current dispensation has thrown up the PDP and the fledgling APC. Smaller parties are thus constrained at operating only at the fringe of the political process with all the restrictions thereto for greater political involvement and action.
Historically, every attempt to build a third force in this bipolar environment has not only been quite expensive but actually met with muted success. What is more, the argument is unassailable that the two party dominant system has always worked to enhance national unity and facilitated the process of nation-building as all key players are invariably compelled to work within either of the two dominant parties without regard to religious, regional and ethnic specificities. Aligning with either of the two dominant political forces in the current dispensation is, therefore, in the circumstances, the correct democratic position to take at this historical juncture.
The two critical poles emergent in the political geography of the nation today have been with distinct tendencies and orientations. While there is noticeable effort to widen the space for internal democracy in one, the reverse seems to be the case in the other.
It must be pointed out that this tendency at democratic governance was one reason that made the PDP so attractive, and accounted for our reason to take its membership, in 2003.
Unfortunately at some point in the party’s history, that room for democracy got greatly conscripted. Thus, some eight years ago, when we had need to run for office and the space for internal democracy within PDP had considerably shrank, we chose to leave, but then, not to align with the then emergent opposition party in the land, the ACN. Rather, we chose to move away from both and pick up Labour Party, a party that was quite modest in its aspirations for national elective offices and completely unknown in Ondo State where we wanted to run for office.
Precisely on December 14, 2006, we publicly announced LP as our choice of platform. To the glory of God, four months later, in the April 14, 2007 election, we got the mandate of our people to govern Ondo State. Although our election was stolen by the political tendency in power in Abuja at the time, thanks to a judiciary that continues to be profoundly alert to its duty in a democracy, we managed to retrieve our mandate two years later.
Today, just barely one year into our second term in office, it is obvious that we do not have any office to run for either now or in 2015. Yet, we feel compelled to join hands with the tendency that is aboard today in the PDP, led by a President that is as focused as he is patriotic, a team that has demonstrated so much promise in its commitment to democracy without which the challenges facing our nation cannot be overcome. And as someone who is positioned today by providence to speak for the people of Ondo State and our collaborators and admirers across the nation, I do not have any doubt whatsoever in my mind that the interest of our people in Ondo State, the South West Zone and that of Nigeria too, will be better served in the PDP in the evolving political configuration in our nation.
Our immediate target is to help the process of getting President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan elected. We hope to be part of a process of creating, especially in the South West, a solid and robust platform of involvement in the election of the President, governors and legislators and post election governance structure which will help to engender rapid socio-economic development.
It is in the light of the foregoing that I, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, following extensive consultations across the land, today formally announce the decision of members of National Assembly from the LP in Ondo State, members of the LP in the Ondo State House of Assembly, members of the State Executive Council and indeed all those who share our aspirations, to join the PDP.
This decision arose after a period of consultation with major stakeholders in Ondo State, which include the aforementioned as well as traditional and religious leaders, market men and women, artisans, trade unions and community as well as party leaders.
I must confess that it surely was tempting and perhaps more fulfilling to continue as a national leader in our smaller, calmer and quite promising ocean represented by the Labour Party. But this decision to return to the PDP, we have taken in the overall interest of our people and our nation, and its democracy which for those who are perceptive enough to notice, is now mortally endangered by a constellation of forces which must be confronted. May I then add, that we take this epochal decision conscious of the fact that no political party in Nigeria today is anywhere near the point of perfection. But we are persuaded that joining hands with other Nigerians, committed as they are at repositioning the PDP on a continual basis, is the appropriate thing to do today. And considering that it was under this same PDP that I was privileged to serve, first as Secretary to the Government of Ondo State and later as Minister of Housing and Urban Development from July 2005 – December 2006, this is for us a homecoming of sort.
I thank President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR, for making this choice so compelling by the way and manner he has used power and supported democracy these past years. I thank the leadership of our party, the PDP, for their doggedness. I today make a solemn pledge to join hands with you all our esteemed leaders in persuading other Nigerians to re-elect our President for a second and most deserving term.
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Interest of our people in Ondo State, South West Zone, Nigeria will be better served in PDP – Mimiko |
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