Ondo State Web Forum: A biased mockery of citizen media!
April 26th, 2008 | Published in Blogosphere, Governance, Nigeria | 5 Comments
If you are an indigene of Ondo State, Nigeria, or a web enthusiast, you need to read this:
Late last year, the government of Ondo State decided to add a ‘public forum‘ to the government web portal. Today what appeared to be a genuine gesture of engaging the people of the state has turned to an exercise that runs contrary to every known standard and ethics of information exchange and principles of citizen media, particularly if when it is funded with peoples money.
I have heard of postings been edited or deleted when their contents are contrary to what the PDP government of Dr Agagu wants. I didn’t pay much attention until I asked a friend - ‘Segun’, to test the fairness of the Ondo State forum administrators.
Segun went ahead and posted on forum highlighting the “double talk” of Governor Agagu. As it was reported in the media, Agagu partly fumbled the Nigerian integrated power project while serving as the Mines and Power Minister by awarding contracts to dozens of unregistered companies. Segun contrasted that report with a recent statement the governor made to the members of the House of Representatives Committee on Power and Steel when they paid him a visit. Agagu was reported to have “advised them to engage the services of professionals to look into the award of contracts, identify and remove bottle necks and punish whoever erred.”
Within 48hours, Segun’s post was edited, and as I write this post all that remains (url: http://www.ondostate.gov.ng/forum2.php?id=79 ) is this:
Forum » Agagu Talks Tough On Power Sector … Condemns Turbines Lying Idle at Port. (Apr 15,’08)
posted by segun (Apr 15, ‘08)
Here is url of the article [ http://www.ondostate.gov.ng/news_details.php?id=1651 ]as posted on this site, below is an excerpt: Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Power and Steel have been tasked to design, without further delay a roadmap for the consummation of all the power projects to the level of completion in the country while their investigation continues. Governor Olusegun Agagu of Ondo State who gave the charge also enjoined the Committee on Power and Steel to be sincere in their final recommendations to the Federal Government in view of the fact that the sector was vital to the economic emancipation of Nigeria. He made the appeal on Thursday in Akure while receiving the committee members who were in the state on a fact finding tour of Federal Government’s projects in the state. Agagu advised them to engage the services of professionals to look into the award of contracts, identify and remove bottle necks and punish whoever erred.
Segun went back and logged yet another post, addressed to the administrator, asking why his post was edited. The second post lasted less than one week before it was deleted from the board. We made that discovery shortly before I decided to write this post.
I’m sure there are other similar instances of abusive and reckless administrative practices on the Ondo State web forum that have gone undocumented - a forum paid for by state funds.
It is on record that Segun questioned the idea and purpose of the forum when it went live. The questions posed to the administrator can be found at this url: http://www.ondostate.gov.ng/forum2.php?id=12, and are reproduced below:
If I may guess, this is to seek input from the users - presumably Ondo State people. While I understand the need to source input from the people, I doubt if a forum is the best tool to do this. The people ought to be educated that where their voices would be heard, or needed to be heard, and is most relevant is at the state House of Assembly (well, if they can manage to dodge the fist cuffs there.) Even if the forum succeeds in attracting relevant and well articulated discussions, it remains unclear how the input will be processed and passed on to the relevant entities for further action, or our suggestions offered here will aid public policy and governance in general. As far as I know, forums have not been used on any public and state-funded web domain in any democratic society. Check, I may be wrong. So why in Ondo state? Can the brains behind this project shed more light to this forum experiment? The bottom-line is giving the people of Ondo state good governance, how does this forum speak to that?
Going by the responses to that post- there has yet to be a well articulated answer to Segun’s questions.
While it is not strange - albeit ethically wrong - for government-owned traditional media outlets (radio and TV in particular) to be used to propagate political propaganda, it is disturbing that Ondo State, under Dr Agagu, has extended this whacked mentality to new media disguised in the form of a “public forum”.
It is a slap on the faces of the global people of Ondo State that the administration of Dr Agagu deems it fit to use any means necessary to justify its stay in power, even if it means misinforming the people via a state-funded public internet forum full of doctored contents!
This action can only be orchestrated by a criminally-minded and socially irresponsible bunch. But as recent events have shown - via the Ondo State electoral tribunal and investigation of the integrated power project - one can see why only those kind of people can see any leadership traits in the state executive, in the person of Dr Agagu!
April 28th, 2008 at 11:04 pm (#)
It’s just a matter of time for things to start changing for the better. Buy let me ask, did you and Segun expect an unbiased policy on the forum in the first place? You should know better. How would you explain why the forum hardly used?
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:11 pm (#)
If I may add my experience, this forum was also dogged with criminally minded individuals logging in as other people to sing false praises of Agagu. My web name was used to “praise” the forum to my utter discomfort and disgust. It didnt stop there, the same individual(s) started writing false comments that I was Agagu’s snitch on Dr Mimiko’s website. When this was brought to my attention, I had to write disclaimers for I have to this day never once visited this so called Ondo State Web Forum. How low can some people stoop. It didnt stop there, for the head crook, decided to join African Loft Community to post lies, threats, obscenities and mudslings at me, calling me names I didnt even know I could bear, to the point where he had to be “banned” for use of threats and abuse from the Community. Well, one thing is for sure, this is a microcosm of what Agagu’s administration and governorship in Ondo State stands for. ITS A CRYING SHAME.
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:13 pm (#)
“Going by the responses to that post- there has yet to be a well articulated answer to Segun’s questions”…
Ah Imnakoya, do you really believe that Pigs could FLY???
June 30th, 2008 at 3:04 pm (#)
Well it should be judgement day very soon, maybe this week or next in Ondo State. Many people from many countries all over the world are praying and keeping their fingers crossed that a just and true verdict that will reinstate the person voted by the people enmasse to govern Ondo State i.e. Dr Olusegun mimiko, will be the only verdict by the appeal tribunal. History I say will be made. Be blessed.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:10 am (#)
This Post courtesy of Mahogany Force Mimiko for Governor Website and titled “Ondo State Harvest of Nullifications” sums up a lot of news to the run up of the final judgement on the Ondo State Governorship saga. For the avoidance of doubt Agagu can never be vindicated for Stealing Dr Mimiko’s mandate and holding on to power illegally in Ondo State. In them good old Shakesperean days the famous saying was “off with his head”, but then we are civilised arent we so I say on behalf of the good people of Ondo State to Agagu “ON YOUR BIKE MATE”. Ondo State would fare better without the likes of you. Please read:
“It has been a harvest of election nullifications in Ondo State in the last few weeks. At the last count, no fewer than 12 elections into both the National Assembly and State House of Assembly had been nullified by the two Election Petition Tribunals sitting in Akure.
James Sowole reports via ThisDay. Full text below:
In Nigeria , political history placed Ondo State as the political hub of the South West geo-political Zone. The first political party of the then Western Region took off from Owo, an ancient town of the Sunshine State . When talking of the progressive political activities in the old region, the contributions of notable people like the first Executive Governor of the State, late Chief Adekunle Ajasin, late Chief Adebayo Adefarati, Chief Olu Falae, Chief Rueben Fasoranti, Chief Wunmi Adegbonmire, Senator Olorunnimbe Farukanmi and a host of others cannot be dismissed with a wave of hand.
The 1983 political crisis with the attendant destruction both in terms of human and property, is fresh in the minds of many political events watchers and which many still use to describe the people of the state as who abhor cheating. The contribution of notable indigenes of the state to the political struggle of the National Democratic Coalition(NADECO) for the enthronement of democracy in the country, also testified to the vibrancy of the people. The massive return of the choice of the people during the 1999 General Election in the person of the late Chief Adebayo Adefarati and the deliberate change of the people in 2003 against Adefarati in preference to the incumbent Governor, Olusegun Agagu clearly demonstrated the sensitivity of the people when a change is desired.
The level of political awareness of the people and their determination to ensure that their choice is respected when choosing their leaders, was demonstrated with the vigour they handled electoral processes into various offices before, during and after the April 14 and April 21, 2007 general election.
The startling revelations at the tribunals showed the level of commitment of the people to ensure that their choices were respected. Watchers of events were inundated daily during the preliminary hearing of various cases at the tribunals as documentary evidences which many thought cannot be obtained were tendered in pursuance of petitions. Apart from 1983 when the outcome of the governorship election involving first executive governor of the state, Chief Adekunle Ajasin and his estranged deputy, Chief Akin Omoboriowo was taken before the Election Petition Tribunal, the state has not witnessed legal fireworks at the courts.
The enormity of petitions emanating from the 2007 elections and the need to tackle them headlong necessitated the setting up of two election petitions tribunals in the state. While Justice Garba Nabaruma-led panel concentrated on the cases emanating from the gubernatorial poll in which the incumbent Governor, Dr Olusegun Agagu of the Labour Party (PDP) and Dr Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party (LP) are the main actors and few of the cases on the Legislative elections, the Justice Joseph Ikyegh led panel concentrated on the remaining exercises bothering on State and National Assembly Polls.
Until judgments started rolling in based on the documentary evidences placed before the two tribunals, the general belief was that it is very impossible to prove cases of election malpractices in Nigeria .
As at the time of filling this report, the LP was having an edge going by the outcome of various judgments delivered so far by the two tribunals. While the LP had secured one more seat at the State House of Assembly in addition to nine it had originally, the PDP in the state had suffered repeated losses as the panels keep nullifying the election of its members into the National and State House of Assembly one after the other.
So far, the PDP had lost six members of the State House of Assembly including the speaker, five members of House of Representatives and one Senate seat.
Those who had their elections nullified as members of the State House of Assembly by the two Election Petition Tribunals are Obagbemi Oladunjoye, Adebusoye Olaniyi, of Okitipupa constituencies 1 and 11 respectively, Pius Idowu Adebusuyi of Ifedore, Atikase Otito Thompson of Ilaje constituency 1, Igbekele Bolodeoku of Eseodo and the Speaker, Bakkita Olufowobi Bello of Akoko North -West I constituencies. Equally, a third term Senator and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Gbenga Ogunniya representing Ondo Central Senatorial District was asked to vacate his seat in the Upper chamber of the National Assembly by Justice Joseph Ikyegh-led Panel.
The members of the House of Representatives who got their elections nullified by the election panels are Agboola Ajayi representing Ilaje/Eseodo, Jones Akinyugha of Idanre/Ifedore, Gbenga Elegbeleye of Akoko North West and North East and Temitayo Fawehinmi representing Ondo East and West federal constituencies at the National Assembly. One of the causalities, Ajayi, the Chairman of the House Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) had his election nullified twice. The first nullification was due to the fact that he was not qualified as at the time the election was held as the tribunal held that the certificate he tendered for the poll, was not genuine.
It will be an understatement to say that the leadership and the entire members of the PDP did not bargain for what befell the party in Ondo State which as at now accounted for the highest number of nullifications premised on the outcome of the April 2007 Elections. That the party’s leadership was not comfortable with the nullification of some determined petition was saying the obvious as they were anxious of what would be the outcome of the remaining three cases which the two tribunals will determine soon including the star petition which is the, gubernatorial.
The major reason for this is that some of the elections which were held the same day and in the same constituencies have been nullified by the election panel. These included the election of Prince Oyebo Aladetan of Ilaje Constituency I where the tribunal had nullified that of his counterpart in Constituency 11. The remaining House of Representatives Petition is that of Ile-Oluji/Odigbo Federal Constituency where the tribunal had determined the petitions of the LP in favour of the PDP candidates in respect of State House of Assembly.
One thing was common to all the cases that had been determined. The tribunal ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to organise fresh elections within periods ranging from 60 days to 90 days from the day the judgments were delivered. The only exemption was in the judgment delivered by Justice Garba Nabaruma-led panel, where the tribunal ordered that Pius Idowu Adebusuyi should vacate the Ifedore Constituency seat in the State Assembly for the LP candidate, Oloyelogun David Bamidele.
It must be noted that reasons for the nullification of these elections were similar. The tribunals based their judgments on proven cases of irregularities, corrupt practices, inflation of results in favour of the respondents, signing of election results by political office holders and use of unauthorised stamps like those of defunct NECON, FEDECO and NEC contrary to the provision of Electoral Acts 2006. There were cases of over voting, multiple registrations while cases of multiple thumbprinting were established thorough scientific method with the aid of finger print expert.
In all cases, the tribunal held that the number of votes declared in many poling units were more than the number of registered voters as revealed by the ballot recount exercise ordered by the panels while in many cases the figures in the INEC result sheets were far more than even the number of ballot papers supplied by the commission just as votes were allocated to political parties that did not contest election at all.
For example, the INEC stated in its result that Bolodeoku polled a total of 32,313 votes to emerge as winner of the election while his closer challenger, Prince Ibunkun Kalasuwe of LP scored 1,121. But in the vote recount ordered by the tribunal, a total of 21,529 was the total number of used and unused ballot papers found in the ballot boxes in the state constituency. Apart from a total of 12,952 in excess of the votes, the tribunal held that the ballot papers sent to the constituency for the election was only 4,000. This was despite the fact that an Electoral Officer posted to the zone, Mr Toyin Abegunde in his report had said that election did not hold because of massive violence in the area.
More curious in the judgment read by Justice Abdullahi Maiwada on behalf of others was that only six political parties contested the election but the electoral umpire gave result to 12 political parties just as governorship ballot papers found its way to the House of Assembly result.
Earlier, Justice Garba Nabaruma-led Tribunal had nullified the election of Fawehinmi representing Ondo East and West federal constituency at the House of Representatives and Adebusuyi representing Ifedore constituency at the State House of Assembly. The grouse of Dr Irinola Akinlaja who got judicial pronouncement to get Fawehinmi’s election nullified was that Fawehinmi was not duly returned by the total number of valid vote cast and the tribunal in upholding the submission based its verdict on the fact that there were different entries in both form EC8A II which is the Unit results form and form EC8B II which were used for collating of result.
The Justice Nabaruma-led tribunal that nullified the election of Fawehinmi also nullified the election of Adebusuyi. But in his case, his opponent in the election, Mr Bamidele Oleyelogun of LP was declared the winner of the election. The tribunal based its verdict on the irregularities discovered in the exhibits submitted by the petitioners and the evidences of the witnesses in the petitions.
For the election of Elegbeleye, the tribunal held that the election was irregular because there was massive thumb printing of ballot papers at the palace of Olukare of Ikare, Oba Akadiri Momoh. Also, the Tribunal discovered that inanimate objects were used for voting during the election by agents of the PDP’s candidate just as there was no accreditation of voters before the purported election took place
In their verdict having held that the election was fraught with irregularities, the justices said the petitioner was able to prove the allegations raised in the petition. These allegations, they said, included multiple voting, violence during the election and non accreditation of voters before the actual election. The Tribunal also held that the result declared by INEC did not tally with the actual voting when physical counting of the votes recorded during the election was carried out, just as the justices frowned at the discovery that inanimate objects were used during the voting exercise.
The same grounds for the nullification of election of other PDP members were also the one used for the nullification of Atikase’s election, who represent Ilaje Constituency11 in the Assembly. The Justice Joseph Ikeygh-led Election Petition Tribunal predicated its decision on the non-compliance substantially with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2006 as to who should sign the form EC8A and EC8B.
In the verdict, the tribunal held that the result declared by INEC was 31,119 while the vote recount showed 20,490. Out of the result of the vote recount, it was discovered that only 11,900 has INEC stamps. Other were either not stamped or signed by the electoral officers. Delivering the unanimous judgment on behalf of others, Justice Ijem Onwuagbu said “there is no basis for the return of the first respondent (Atikase) representing Ilaje constituency two hence it has been established that the April 14 elections contained a lot of irregularities and malpractices.
Delivering judgment in the petition filed against Akinyugha’s return by the LP candidate in the election, Mr. Moshood Bakare, Justice Paul Elechi who read the judgment on behalf of others said the election was nullified on the grounds of over-voting and signing of election results by seven serving political office holders.
According to the justices, since the election was based on ballot count, the result of the votes count as ordered by the tribunal cannot sustain the Respondent. Rather, it supported the allegation of electoral malpractices basically against INEC as canvassed by the Petitioner.
Justice Elechi wondered how 25,477 ballot papers would be found and counted in INEC’s bags while a total of 38,130 was recorded in the Commission’s results form without any explanation by the electoral body as to the whereabouts of the shortfall of 12,563.
In the determined cases, the actions and inactions of the officials of the INEC were exposed while the collusion of some law enforcement agents was found to negate their callings. The tribunal berated an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Chris Oloyede, who signed election results as the PDP agent during the House of Representative Election in Ese Odo Federal Constituency.
Justice Yargatha Nimpa, who read the judgment, said “it was incomprehensible that a public officer in the rank of an Assistant Commissioner of Police could act as party agent.”
Though, the tribunal did not deal with the crime content of various petitions, it had harsh words for the elected officers who used their positions to influence the outcome of the elections saying for the nation’s democracy to grow, the incidence of excesses of public office holders who use their positions to circumvent the electoral rights of the people must be firmly checked.
The tribunal expressed its disgust in a clear manner about political office holders signing election results sheets while giving judgment in the petition against the return of the former speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mr Bakkita Bello, as it was established that the Attorney-General and the Commissioner for Justice of Ondo State, Mr. Yemi Alao signed results sheets in five out of the six wards that made up Akoko North West Constituency 1.
“Should the absence of sanctions in the provision of Electoral Law of Nigeria be a license for the breach of the same especially signing of election result sheets by Chief Law Officer of a state. The answer should be no”, says Justice Ijem Onwuamgbu who read the judgment.
The judgments of the electoral panels were not about nullification of election as victories of some members have been upheld by the panels while the petitions of the aggrieved candidates have been dismissed. Apart from the LP and the only Alliance for Democracy (AD) lawmakers who had their elections upheld, some members of the ruling party have also got their elections upheld. Some of the beneficiaries of the soft side of the tribunal were Senator Bode Olajumoke representing Ondo North Senatorial district, Dr Wole Olakunde representing Okitipupa/Irele federal constituency and Hon. Alaba Oladoyinbo Ojomo, representing Owo/Ose Constituency.