Thursday, September 1, 2011

Mimiko inaugurates electoral commision


Ondo State
Governor
Olusegun
Mimiko
yesterday
swore in the Ondo State
Independent Electoral
Commission (ODIEC). It
comprises eight members.
The committee which is
expected to conduct election
into the 18 local councils in
the state is headed by a
university don, Dr. Gbenga
Ige. they have 150 days to
prepare for the poll.
Speaking at the inauguration
in Akure, the state capital,
Mimiko charged the members
to ensure fair, credible and
transparent elections into the
chairmanship and
councillorship positions in the
local government councils
after all legal issues would
have been resolved.
Mimiko also told them: “You
will all recall that before the
inception of this
administration in February
2009, a long legal battle was
fought to reclaim our stolen
mandate. Therefore, for an
administration that came into
power through the
instrumentality of the law, we
find it absolutely necessary
not only to ensure regard for,
but also, sustain the rule of
law.”
Apparently likening Ige, the
ODIEC boss and immediate
past ASUU Chairman, Adekunle
Ajasin University, Akungba
Akoko, to INEC Chairman, Prof
attahiru Jega, the governor
said: “We believe that your
tenure will pay us like that of
the former ASUU National
President. We went to pick
somebody from the academia,
somebody who has the
background of activism and
who we all don’t expect to
compromise or do anything
other than ensure fairness.
“Your manifest non-
partisanship in any of the
existing political parties or
interest groups, will engender
people’s trust and confidence
in the affairs of the
Commission and particularly,
in the conduct of free and fair
local government elections.
Unlike in 2007 when we
witnessed all manners of
electoral malady, the 2011
election was a major
improvement over the past. A
typical evidence of this
improvement was that after
the 2007 elections, about 68
election petitions were filed in
the court, but in 2011, only 8
petitions were filed which
was a testimony to the
credibility of the election.”
While reiterating his
administration’s commitment
to foisting an era of credible
polls on the state political
landscape, Governor Mimiko
declared that “on the part of
the Labour Party government,
it bears repeating here that
we will not seek for any
undue advantage over and
above any party or individual,
but that we shall only give the
necessary moral and financial
support in accordance with
the Constitution”.
Responding on behalf of
other members, Ige pledged
that with the sincerity and
support of the political class,
the Commission would
entrench a culture of free, fair
and credible elections in Ondo
State.
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