The Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Ali Olanusi
who told Sahara Reporters that his direct boss,
Governor Mimiko is planning to eliminate him has
spoken to a Journalist, Oluwole Josiah, on how he
met the Governor, how he and others formed
Labour Party, how he has been loyal to him
(mimiko), and how he rejected his offer at first to
become his deputy governor but was ‘forced’ to
succumb when the pressure was much. This is
not the beginning of the interview, but you can
start from here, you will still understand it.
Continue...
You all need to be reading political stories often; it
enlightens you and makes you know whatsup.
And guess what it’s far more interesting than
gossip! Enjoy the interview;
Since you formed the party, why did you
choose the position of just a deputy
governor?
After forming Labour Party, Mimiko called me
and asked me to recommend three persons from
Akoko as his running mate. I recommended late
Clement Adebambo from Ogbagi Akoko and
Saka Lawal, from Afin Akoko. I said these two
gentlemen could work with him. After about a
week or two, he phoned me. I was at my office
at the Nigerian Shippers Council at Apapa. He said
he wanted to come to Apapa to meet me. He said
he didn’t know how he would put it but he
actually wanted me to be his running mate. I told
him that I was too old for that position and that
he should consider the people that I
recommended to him. He went to persuade my
wife in Akure and when I came home, my wife
persuaded me to accept the offer.
But didn’t you think you were too old for the
position of a deputy governor?
I insisted that I was too old for the position. But
Mimiko promised (which he kept to some extent,
before he showed his true colour) that I would
not be put under immense pressure. But I told
my wife that the humiliation and insults that came
with that position was much. I told her she
shouldn’t complain whenever such arose. And
she agreed. That was why she had to bear all we
went through and that was why we were able to
tolerate him and his wife up till this time before
we decided to leave them.
Would you mention some of the
maltreatments you suffered, specifically as
deputy governor?
Immediately we were sworn in, Mimiko had his
own plan from day one which was unknown to
me. This was why many members of the party
left after forming the government. What he
introduced was very alien to the practice we met
in the Western Region and in Ondo State. He was
not the first governor anyway. He took over
everything. He single-handedly selected the 22
commissioners. When I saw this, I was
annoyed. But he pleaded with me and promised
he would create the Local Government and
Chieftaincy Ministry. He decided to create it in
conjunction with the former chairman of LP,
Olaiya Oni. I pleaded to be excused. I said I
wouldn’t want to leave office and be going to
Abuja to be reporting in the office of EFCC and
ICPC. Eighty per cent of the accusations levelled
against the last administration were about the
money diverted from the local governments. He
promised that he would put me in charge of a
very powerful agency where a lot of money
would be spent on power generation and that
was better than the Ministry of Local Government
and Chieftaincy Affairs. But I told him he should
do what he wanted because I was not in the job
for money. The prestige in that office was alright.
I had a means of living. Within six months, all the
responsibilities I had, as the chairman of State
Tender’s Board and Joint Allocation Committee,
where I presided over the monies coming from
the federation account to the local governments,
he went to the House of Assembly and got a bill
to revoke the order where the deputy governor
was chairman of JAC. I did not bother. He
decided to select occasional members of the
cabinet or chose any person he wanted to take
over the job. There was no official
pronouncement on that. This he did to render me
completely non-functional. So, I came to the
office, I read papers and so on.
Was that what led you to part ways with
the governor?
Yes. After enduring the maltreatment, I had to
leave. He had been unfair to me. I had endured
hardship, but I did not count it as hardship. I am
satisfied with my salary. It was clear that Mimiko
did not value me. So for him to value me, I
decided to leave 48 hours to the election. There
were many things he did against me. It came to a
point that even when I phoned him, he would
not pick my call. When I complained, he said I
should not call him directly, that I had to call his
ADC, since he was permanently in Aso Rock Villa.
It was only when he came back that he would be
approving files. I actually asked him if he really
said I should be calling his ADC when I needed
his attention and he said yes. I just felt this was
too much for me to bear.
We learnt you were also not happy with
him because of the appointments he
made…
Yes. I was not happy with the way he distributed
his appointments. In my local government, he
appointed just four commissioners in the last six
years, whereas other local governments still have
the ones he appointed in 2009. He has changed
four commissioners, appointing them without
my knowledge. He never consults me in any
decision he makes. He said since they are going
to be working with him directly, he has the right
to pick them. What annoyed me was during this
election, while we were preparing for it, he
decided to pick the person who would represent
my constituency. I considered that to be too
much. If you say you can nominate candidates
from other constituencies, it is wrong of him to
go ahead to nominate a candidate in my own
constituency; a candidate who has spent eight
years in the House of Reps, to return for the third
term to represent a constituency of four towns.
Since you said you started having issues
with the governor right from the first day,
why did it take you this long to defect and
why did you even wait till the eve of the
election to defect?
I am not in the office because of money. I am
from a family background that respects
constituted authority. My father was a traditional
chief. With my age, I am not in a rush for
money. With my age, I am contented with what
I have. I have every cause to thank God. God
gave me three children. They are doing fine. Even
as deputy governor, my daughter still sends me
money for cow and ram for Sallah. I told her not
to bother, that I have enough, but she said she
knew I was doing same for my father and that
she would be doing it for me too. So I said
alright. So, it is not money. I enjoy the love the
Ondo State people have for me. I also respect
eminent persons in the state.
But you haven’t told us why you chose to
defect few hours to election day…
When Mimiko wanted to defect to PDP, I was
here in Akure. He had been in Abuja for two
weeks at the time. Early in the morning around
4am, the governor called me and asked where I
was, I told him I was on my bed, he said alright
and that he just wanted to hear from me. About
three hours later, that should be around 7 or
8am, the Chief of Staff called me. I asked where
he was calling from and he said he was in Lokoja.
I asked what was happening, he said he thought
the governor had sent for me, that he was on his
way to Abuja to go and defect to PDP. Defect?
That was what I wanted to do since last year.
February last year, I wanted to return to the PDP,
Mimiko pleaded with me that I should not. I
stayed back. He went there, he defected with his
commissioners. I only heard of it in the news.
When he came back, I thought he would give
reasons why he did not consult me but he did
not say anything or mention it at all. I called him
and complained to him. I told him what he did
wasn’t right. I asked him why he would go to
Abuja to defect to PDP without letting me know.
One of the party officials even said I was not a
member of PDP because when Mimiko defected
with his commissioners, I was not there. It
dawned on me that this action was not by
mistake; it was deliberate. He said I was no more
useful or relevant. I gave him 48 hours. After all
the maltreatment he had given me, I said alright, I
defected to APC since he did not even want me in
PDP. He defected from LP to PDP while I defected
to the APC. I don’t know why he is annoyed.
who told Sahara Reporters that his direct boss,
Governor Mimiko is planning to eliminate him has
spoken to a Journalist, Oluwole Josiah, on how he
met the Governor, how he and others formed
Labour Party, how he has been loyal to him
(mimiko), and how he rejected his offer at first to
become his deputy governor but was ‘forced’ to
succumb when the pressure was much. This is
not the beginning of the interview, but you can
start from here, you will still understand it.
Continue...
You all need to be reading political stories often; it
enlightens you and makes you know whatsup.
And guess what it’s far more interesting than
gossip! Enjoy the interview;
Since you formed the party, why did you
choose the position of just a deputy
governor?
After forming Labour Party, Mimiko called me
and asked me to recommend three persons from
Akoko as his running mate. I recommended late
Clement Adebambo from Ogbagi Akoko and
Saka Lawal, from Afin Akoko. I said these two
gentlemen could work with him. After about a
week or two, he phoned me. I was at my office
at the Nigerian Shippers Council at Apapa. He said
he wanted to come to Apapa to meet me. He said
he didn’t know how he would put it but he
actually wanted me to be his running mate. I told
him that I was too old for that position and that
he should consider the people that I
recommended to him. He went to persuade my
wife in Akure and when I came home, my wife
persuaded me to accept the offer.
But didn’t you think you were too old for the
position of a deputy governor?
I insisted that I was too old for the position. But
Mimiko promised (which he kept to some extent,
before he showed his true colour) that I would
not be put under immense pressure. But I told
my wife that the humiliation and insults that came
with that position was much. I told her she
shouldn’t complain whenever such arose. And
she agreed. That was why she had to bear all we
went through and that was why we were able to
tolerate him and his wife up till this time before
we decided to leave them.
Would you mention some of the
maltreatments you suffered, specifically as
deputy governor?
Immediately we were sworn in, Mimiko had his
own plan from day one which was unknown to
me. This was why many members of the party
left after forming the government. What he
introduced was very alien to the practice we met
in the Western Region and in Ondo State. He was
not the first governor anyway. He took over
everything. He single-handedly selected the 22
commissioners. When I saw this, I was
annoyed. But he pleaded with me and promised
he would create the Local Government and
Chieftaincy Ministry. He decided to create it in
conjunction with the former chairman of LP,
Olaiya Oni. I pleaded to be excused. I said I
wouldn’t want to leave office and be going to
Abuja to be reporting in the office of EFCC and
ICPC. Eighty per cent of the accusations levelled
against the last administration were about the
money diverted from the local governments. He
promised that he would put me in charge of a
very powerful agency where a lot of money
would be spent on power generation and that
was better than the Ministry of Local Government
and Chieftaincy Affairs. But I told him he should
do what he wanted because I was not in the job
for money. The prestige in that office was alright.
I had a means of living. Within six months, all the
responsibilities I had, as the chairman of State
Tender’s Board and Joint Allocation Committee,
where I presided over the monies coming from
the federation account to the local governments,
he went to the House of Assembly and got a bill
to revoke the order where the deputy governor
was chairman of JAC. I did not bother. He
decided to select occasional members of the
cabinet or chose any person he wanted to take
over the job. There was no official
pronouncement on that. This he did to render me
completely non-functional. So, I came to the
office, I read papers and so on.
Was that what led you to part ways with
the governor?
Yes. After enduring the maltreatment, I had to
leave. He had been unfair to me. I had endured
hardship, but I did not count it as hardship. I am
satisfied with my salary. It was clear that Mimiko
did not value me. So for him to value me, I
decided to leave 48 hours to the election. There
were many things he did against me. It came to a
point that even when I phoned him, he would
not pick my call. When I complained, he said I
should not call him directly, that I had to call his
ADC, since he was permanently in Aso Rock Villa.
It was only when he came back that he would be
approving files. I actually asked him if he really
said I should be calling his ADC when I needed
his attention and he said yes. I just felt this was
too much for me to bear.
We learnt you were also not happy with
him because of the appointments he
made…
Yes. I was not happy with the way he distributed
his appointments. In my local government, he
appointed just four commissioners in the last six
years, whereas other local governments still have
the ones he appointed in 2009. He has changed
four commissioners, appointing them without
my knowledge. He never consults me in any
decision he makes. He said since they are going
to be working with him directly, he has the right
to pick them. What annoyed me was during this
election, while we were preparing for it, he
decided to pick the person who would represent
my constituency. I considered that to be too
much. If you say you can nominate candidates
from other constituencies, it is wrong of him to
go ahead to nominate a candidate in my own
constituency; a candidate who has spent eight
years in the House of Reps, to return for the third
term to represent a constituency of four towns.
Since you said you started having issues
with the governor right from the first day,
why did it take you this long to defect and
why did you even wait till the eve of the
election to defect?
I am not in the office because of money. I am
from a family background that respects
constituted authority. My father was a traditional
chief. With my age, I am not in a rush for
money. With my age, I am contented with what
I have. I have every cause to thank God. God
gave me three children. They are doing fine. Even
as deputy governor, my daughter still sends me
money for cow and ram for Sallah. I told her not
to bother, that I have enough, but she said she
knew I was doing same for my father and that
she would be doing it for me too. So I said
alright. So, it is not money. I enjoy the love the
Ondo State people have for me. I also respect
eminent persons in the state.
But you haven’t told us why you chose to
defect few hours to election day…
When Mimiko wanted to defect to PDP, I was
here in Akure. He had been in Abuja for two
weeks at the time. Early in the morning around
4am, the governor called me and asked where I
was, I told him I was on my bed, he said alright
and that he just wanted to hear from me. About
three hours later, that should be around 7 or
8am, the Chief of Staff called me. I asked where
he was calling from and he said he was in Lokoja.
I asked what was happening, he said he thought
the governor had sent for me, that he was on his
way to Abuja to go and defect to PDP. Defect?
That was what I wanted to do since last year.
February last year, I wanted to return to the PDP,
Mimiko pleaded with me that I should not. I
stayed back. He went there, he defected with his
commissioners. I only heard of it in the news.
When he came back, I thought he would give
reasons why he did not consult me but he did
not say anything or mention it at all. I called him
and complained to him. I told him what he did
wasn’t right. I asked him why he would go to
Abuja to defect to PDP without letting me know.
One of the party officials even said I was not a
member of PDP because when Mimiko defected
with his commissioners, I was not there. It
dawned on me that this action was not by
mistake; it was deliberate. He said I was no more
useful or relevant. I gave him 48 hours. After all
the maltreatment he had given me, I said alright, I
defected to APC since he did not even want me in
PDP. He defected from LP to PDP while I defected
to the APC. I don’t know why he is annoyed.
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