Ondo Govt Uncovers Plots Aimed At Rubbishing Mimiko

The Ondo state government has raised the
alarm over alleged plans by “enemies of the
state” to embark on character assassination,
outright falsehood and massive propaganda.

This Day reports that Kayode Akinmade, the
state commissioner for information,
expressed concern in a statement issued on
Sunday, August 30, in Akure.
He revealed that the government had
uncovered the planned attack, which had
been scripted to begin with a series of
petitions to be written against Olusegun
Mimiko and the state government.
Akinmade recalled that adversaries had
several times attempted to indict the
governor through petitions written against
him to the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC). He alleged that there
was a meeting in Abuja, held in the house of
a prominent Ondo politician, where a lawyer
was assigned to write frivolous petitions
against Mimiko.
Akinmade added that the lawyer was
expected to start with a petition against the
governor over what “the meeting said should
be another framed-up allegation on the
spending of funds allocated to the agency”.
The commissioner noted that the checks had
revealed the identity of the hired lawyer as
an Abuj-based legal practitioner who works
for Ibrahim Lamorde, the EFCC chairman.
“In fact, the lawyer was one of the lawyers
who appeared for the EFCC chairman at the
hearing organised by the Senate Committee
on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, on
the alleged misappropriation of funds against
the anti-graft agency boss in Abuja last
week,” he said.
Akinmade said that a few days ago, a
meeting was also held at the Lagos Airport
Hotel, where lawyers and rights activists
were recruited for a massive campaign
against Mimiko on radio, television, social
media, and newspapers.
According to the commissioner, the
adversaries want to rubbish Mimiko for the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to lose its
relevance in the south-west in particular.
However, Akinmade described the plans as
“mere shadow chasing that would fail like
the previous ones”. He noted that Mimiko
had become the subject of the attack
because of his role as a rallying point of the
PDP in the country.
“They are afraid that the rising profile of the
governor especially with his achievements in
the health, education, employment and social
welfare sectors, was a threat to the chances
of some political parties in the next election
in the state because he is still generally
loved by the people.”
The commissioner called on the people of the
state and all Nigerians to disregard any
attempt by anybody to smear the governor’s
hard-earned reputation.
Earlier this month, the Ondo state chapter of
the All Progressives Congress accused
Mimiko of alleged financial recklessness. The
party said that Mimiko allegedly paid the
monthly salaries of Chief Olisa Metuh, the
national publicity secretary of the PDP, and
other leaders of the party.