VP slot: Buhari will be defeated in Yorubaland by Jonathan says Mimiko ×says APC propaganda will fail woefully Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State on Tuesday said whether the All Progressives Congress picks its presidential candidate’s running mate from the South West or not, the zone would vote massively for President Goodluck Jonathan during the 2015 elections. He said the forthcoming presidential elections would be about real issues and not about the propaganda being spread by members of the opposition party. The governor spoke with State House correspondents shortly after attending a function at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Mimiko boasted that people from the South West know their onions when talking about enlightenment and in terms of long history of progressive political engagement. He recalled that during the 2011 elections when there was no Peoples Democratic Party governor in the South West, Jonathan won in all the states in the region except one. He said, “We are waiting for APC to get their candidate but there is no question about the fact that in terms of, I am saying this with all sense of humility, enlightenment especially in appreciation of issues of politics, in terms of long history of progressive political engagement, you give it to South West that they know their onions. “Don’t forget that even in 2011 when Mr. President did not have any governor in the South West, he won in all the South West states apart from one. “And I tell you, in the South West, we can sift issues from propaganda. We know the difference between propaganda and the real stuff. “I have no doubt in my mind that the South West will vote for President Jonathan to continue along this path of very useful engagement and productive government.” In a separate interview, Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State berated a former Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Samuel Ortom, for dumping the PDP after failing to clinch the party’s governorship ticket in his state. He said the development only confirmed that many politicians lack principles and ideologies, describing it as unfortunate. He said, “People have no principles and ideologies, they just go into politics for what they can get. I think that is very unfortunate. “The (former) minister in question has been a great beneficiary of the PDP. And the most transparent primary was held in Benue State that is why no one is complaining about the primaries. “Some people just want position and once they do not get it, they swing. So, I find that very unfortunate. That is why we are having the problem we are having with politics in Nigeria. “The other parties just wait for the other parties to conduct primaries so that when they have problem, they will just take them in. “If we continue to practise politics in that manner, I do not think that we can grow. We will not get anywhere because there is no philosophy behind what we do. We are just operating like pendulum. If it does not work this way, we will move this way. That is not good. “If they don’t get nomination in PDP, they will move to APC and if they do not get in APC, they will move to Labour Party, etc, I think that instead of us growing our democracy, we cannot go anywhere with this kind of politics.” Suswam said politicians who defect from one party to the other only wanted political offices for selfish reasons. He said those who are committed to genuine service would know that if they did not win this time, they might win another time. “They just want position not to serve but for selfish reasons. If you want to serve, if you do not get it today you will wait for the next time. “This kind of politics comes out of desperation for power. It is out of desperation that they move from one party to another. “If you are not desperate, then what is it? You have been a Senator before later you became a Minister, you have been Auditor and you have been everything. “Why will you defect from the party that has done so much for you? It is because they are desperate for power for selfish reasons not to serve the people. With this trend, I don’t think that politically, we will grow in this country,” the governor added.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 15:29:20 +0000
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