Election Monitor: Odumakin wife’s angry reaction is proof we are right – ACN

By Babatope Okeowo

Mrs. Joe Odumakin has long association with Tunde Bakare and other known vocal supporters of Segun Mimiko

The ACN yesterday insisted that the accreditation of Women Arise to observe Saturday’s governorship election  should be withdrawn because its impartiality is questionable, despite attempts by its President, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, to present her group as an impartial observer.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the vehemence with which Dr. Okei-Odumakin defended her group, even resorting to the use of uncouth language, shows that the ACN hit the bull’s eye with its earlier statement.
”What we said in our earlier statement is that INEC, in its choice of which election observers to accredit, has exhibited gross partisanship in favour of the Labour Party (LP) in Ondo for the following reasons: The Coalition of Democrats for Election Reforms (CODER) was de-accredited, apparently on the basis of alleged partisanship, and in its place Women Arise was accredited; That Women Arise cannot be put up as neutral when its President is the wife of Yinka Odumakin, who has openly endorsed Gov. Olusegun Mimiko of LP, in addition to being a political associate of Pastor Tunde Bakare who has also endorsed Governor Mimiko.
”We also said Femi Aduwo of Rights Monitoring Group (RMG), which has also been accredited to observe Saturday’s election, is a known supporter of Governor Mimiko of the LP; That RMG has been given 1,500 tags while other NGOs have been given only 100 each; That RMG plans to give its cards to LP thugs; That the Monitoring Unit of INEC, which is behind all the shenanigans, colluded with a political party during the 2010 Anambra election and that the fake monitors were arrested and the matter is still in court
”We are, therefore, renewing our call on INEC to immediately withdraw the accreditation of Women Arise and RMG, if the electoral body is serious about its stated intention to ensure that the Ondo State Governorship Polls is not only free, fair and credible, but seen to be so.
”We concede the rights of Pastor Tunde Bakare, Mr. Yinka Odumakin and Mr. Femi Aduwo to support and endorse any candidate of their choice. However you don’t need a Sixth Sense to realise that such a person, his or her spouse or friend cannot be appointed as an election monitor or observer,” ACN said.
The party said it will not respond to the personal attacks contained in the highly-defensive statement issued by an obviously-rattled Dr. Okei-Odumakin, because it (ACN) is well known for dwelling on issues instead of personalities.
It said, however, that Dr. Okei-Odumakin completely missed the point in her statement concerning whether her being the wife of a known supporter of Mimiko compromises her group’s impartiality as an observer in Saturday’s election.
”Nobody is interested in who is the head of the Odumakin family or whether or not she calls the shot. The question is: ‘Will the average person believe in her impartiality given her husband’s open endorsement of Dr. Mimiko? Again, it is irrelevant whether Women Arise was appointed before or after CODER was de-accredited.
The point is that CODER was de-accredited on the grounds of alleged partisanship and Women Arise is still on the list. We have not been told how INEC arrived at its conclusion over CODER’s partisanship, but we have proved beyond reasonable doubt that Women Arise and RMG cannot be perceived to be neutral ”Dr. Okei-Odumakin also asked whether ACN was not aware of her marital links when the party enlisted the support of her group to protest against the injustice meted out to Justice Salami. The question to ask is: Was her NGO hired for the protest and how much was she paid for it?” ACN queried.
But in her reaction, Dr. Okei-Odumakin said Mohammed was merely expressing his personal opinion.
She said in a statement: “Women Arise is once again constrained to respond to the orchestrated campaign of calumny being carried  out against it  by the Action Congress of Nigeria through its megaphone of lies, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
“In twenty four hours, Alhaji Mohammed has issued two statements against us, repeating the same baseless and puerile allegations against our organisation .
“In what has become a special forte of Alhaji Mohammed, one set of rules for ACN and a different one for others, the ACN spokesman’s only allegation against Women Arise is that the group cannot be independent because the hubby of the president has expressed his personal opinion.
“Yet, Lai Mohammed and his party insist that the volume of calls himself and other leaders of his party had with Justice Salami who was giving judgements in ACN favour had no relationships.
“It is more absurd that he, in one breath, wants CODER which was formed and is being funded by the ACN leader, accredited and in another, asks for de-accreditation of Women Arise with no evidence of link to any political party.
“An Alhaji Mohammed, whose wife is probably an “eleha”(woman in purdah), who can only be seen but not heard, may not appreciate the place of women who have broken the ceilings of religion and traditions.
“And for a man who has served more of a political serf to his former friend in the last 14 years, it may be that the only place left for him to exercise authority bordering on dictatorship is over his wife!
“As to the non-question of Mohammed, if Women Arise was hired to participate in any protest, our response is that we cannot be bought with all the illicit funds his group is using to destroy all institutions.
“The group participated freely in the first protest on Salami when it thought that it was an altruistic cause but declined in a second protest having gotten the full facts of the unholy alliance.
“Perhaps, it is Mohammed and his people who should explain why they were “hiring” people to protest if they had no more than ordinary relationship with Salami”.

LibertyReport