Ekiti State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, has declared that he never collected money from a National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to prosecute his election in 2007.
Mimiko made the disclosure while reacting to a claim by Tinubu during the governorship campaign of Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, saying he spent millions on his election petition tribunal case.
In his book titled, ‘Mimiko’s Odyssey: A Biographer of Revelations’ which would be presented today in Akure, the state capital, Mimiko said Tinubu only offered him “technical assistance” during his election, Punch reports.
Narrating that after dumping the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, he opted to form the LP rather than join forces with Tinubu.
He said, “That time, I did not run to Tinubu. They were the two power brokers (Obasanjo and Tinubu) then. The natural thing to do was to go and hide behind these people. Tinubu would give me the ticket and give me money to run and I would be more immune from Baba’s bullets. I didn’t go to him; I stood on my own.
“Four months to the election, December 14, 2006 – was when we inaugurated the Labour Party in Ondo State and election was April 2007. Four months and we formed a new party. We set up the structure, set up candidates.
“We won all elections and we were going with our bare knuckles. I didn’t go to Tinubu then.
“I did not take any money from Tinubu. He offered technical and logistic assistance, which I appreciated and which I have had occasions to reciprocate in the course of similar litigation in which he had interest when I was opportune to do so.
“It is not even important now but it was also a fact that the result of the forensic expert was not part of the evidence that the judges relied upon to give me judgment.”
Dismissing claims that he betrayed Tinubu and former governors of the state, the Adebayo Adefarati and Olusegun Agagu, Mimiko maintained that he has no trace of “treachery” in him.
The outgoing governor disclosed that he fell out with the two former governors, following their insistence to remain in office after a single tenure and also support his governorship ambition.
“I have no history of either betrayal or treachery. It is unfortunate that both Adefarati and Agagu are dead; they separately prevailed upon me to support their governorship bid election.
“I supported them on condition of reciprocity during my own governorship aspiration, which they did not fulfil and over which I bore no grudge,” Mimiko said.
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