APC raises c’ttee to replace Faleke as Bello’s deputy
Ahead of today’s inauguration of Alhaji Yahaya Bello as the Governor of Kogi State, All Progressive Congress (APC) has raised a committee to find a replacement for the unwilling deputy governor-elect, Mr. James Abiodun Faleke.
Similarly, APC leaders from Kogi East have distanced themselves from media reports endorsing one Gowon Usman Egbunu as deputy governor, claiming the purported endorsement was forged.
Mr. Joe Igbokwe, the Lagos APC spokesman, said the inauguration of Alhaji Bello as the Governor of Kogi State was an aberration that would be addressed by the Supreme Court in the fullness of time.
The Committee, “Kogi West committee for selection of Deputy governor,” is expected to submit its report to the party’s national secretariat within the week.
The committee has pruned down the list of suitable replacements and now pencilled down Mrs. Justina Abanida, Dr David Atte and Mr. Kola Bamisaye for consideration.
The committee headed by Mr. Samuel Mogbole, has narrowed the list from initial seven to the three based on their political strength and contributions to the party in time past.
Mrs. Abanida, who hails from Egbe, Yagba West local government, is a prominent politician and was Attorney-general of the state between 1994 and 1996.
Dr Atte was once the Commissioner for Education in the defunct Kwara State, and hails from Itakete-Ide in Mopamuro Local Government area.
Though not much is known on the political scene about Bamisaye until now, he works at the National Assembly Commission in Abuja.
In a related development, A cross-section of APC leaders from Kogi East said the purported endorsement of Egbunu was not a part of the resolution of the meeting of the Kogi East caucus.
Some of the leaders confirmed that they never discussed the Deputy Governorship issue nor endorsed anyone. Those who spoke were Sule Amodu, Yahaya Meyanga, Peter Akasakowa, Friday Adejoh and Jubril Usman.
According to them, a purported endorsement clause was smuggled into their resolutions by perceived “self-serving politicians.”
Meanwhile, Igbokwe, who is the Publicity Secretary of the party in Lagos State, speaking in his personal capacity on his Facebook page, described Bello as an interloper, who was foisted on the state by vested interests.
He contended that it was wrong for the national and state chapter of the APC to choose Bello as a replacement for the late Prince Abubakar Audu, claiming the former’s loyalty to the party during the governorship election was questionable.
Kogi Speaker urges Bello to build on legacy of past regimes
Alhaji Momoh-Jimoh Lawal, the embattled Speaker of Kogi House of Assembly, has also urged in-coming Governor Yahaya Bello to see his election as a divine call to serve the diverse people of the state.
Lawal also called on Bello, who would be sworn in as governor on Wednesday, to build on legacies of past administrations and work for the continued peace, progress and overall development of the state. Lawal made the call in a congratulatory message to the governor-elect signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Felix Udebu in Lokoja.
He urged Bello to work for a peaceful, prosperous and result-oriented tenure in office, adding, “I am optimistic that Bello would succeed in his desire to lift the state to greater heights.’’
He urged Bello to work with the fear of God in his mind through all his engagements and prayed God to grant him divine guidance and wisdom to pilot the affairs of the state.
Meanwhile, Mr Isiaka Ajibola, Chairman, Media, Alhaji Yahaya Bello Inauguration Committee, said arrangements for the successful inauguration of the governor-elect on Wednesday January 27, have been concluded.
Ajibola told newsmen at a news conference that transition committees of both the out-going and in-coming regimes have perfected the take-over arrangements.
Kogi Tribunal: Claims of the claimants
Abiodun Faleke’s position
Hon. James Abiodun Faleke is challenging INEC at the tribunal.
His prayer at the tribunal is that INEC should reverse its decision which rendered the November 21, 2015 governorship election inconclusive.
Faleke’s legal team argued that the November 21 governorship election produced a winner in Prince Abubakar Audu and that his death arrogates to him, the status of governor-elect.
The member representing Ikeja II Federal Constituency, Lagos, wants the tribunal to declare him winner of the Kogi governorship polls.
Idris Wada’s prayers
Captain Idris Wada, the outgoing Governor of the state and candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has approached the tribunal to protest what he termed, “gross irregularities” during the polls.
He also wants the tribunal to determine if Yahaya Bello is qualified to be declared governor-elect when he had not taken part in all the electoral processes. He claimed that INEC contravened the Electoral Law by accepting to replace the late Prince Abubakar Audu with Yahaya Bello.
Also, Wada is praying the court to declare him winner of the polls, being the living candidate with the highest number of votes in the poll. The outgoing governor also claimed that Yahaya Bello went into the supplementary polls without a running mate. In his view, Faleke withdrew from the race before the election.
The legal team of Capt. Idris Wada, led by Chris Uche (SAN) is optimistic of securing victory at the tribunal.
Kogi: What next after inauguration?
All attention is beamed on today’s inauguration of a new government in Kogi State, and the post-inauguration expectations in the Confluence State do not look pretty.
Aftermath of electoral confusion
It is no more news that the unusual occurrence of losing a candidate before the end of the polls has no doubt thrown up an unusual legal challenge. Could a James Faleke, who never participated in the primaries of the party, have replaced his late boss in the supplementary poll? Can a living contestant inherit the votes of the dead? Do the votes of the dead die with him? These and more are some of the questions to be answered by the tribunal.
The next nine months will no doubt test the efficiency of the judiciary as the Kogi scenario is the first of its kind.
Political engagements
Beyond the judiciary, it is expected that the Kogi case may pose further political engagements from the highest political rings as the different camps may go for broke.
With Faleke seemingly losing all, the Tinubu camp may decide to fight back. Analysts are postulating a fierce political battle ahead.
A lawyer, who craved anonymity said he is afraid Faleke’s case may be thrown out on grounds of lacking “locus standi”. To him, Faleke was never a candidate in the election and may not have the right to challenge a process not involving him.
However, Faleke is also aware of his limitations, hence, he is restricting himself to the argument that the November 21 polls was won and lost and that there was no basis for supplementary polls.
The new political chemistry
The new page in Kogi politics is opening new political alliances with old wounds still aching.
During the governorship primaries, the bulk of Yahaya Bello’s votes came from some party members who had earlier defected to Accord Party after the alleged imposition of candidates by leaders of the party prior to the 2015 general election.
With the victory of Alhaji Yahaya Bello, many of the leaders of the party who defected to other parties are back in APC. The battle for supremacy between the two warring camps may test the political savvy of the new governor.
House of Assembly shake-up
With the emergence of Bello, the leadership of the Kogi State House of Assembly will surely be altered. The political arrangement in the state is such that the positions of Governor, Deputy and Speaker are to be spread across the three Senatorial Districts of West, Central and East.
As it stands, the Speaker of the House of Assembly is from Kogi Central, the same as the Governor-elect. The permutations in the state point to the Deputy Governor emerging from Kogi East, especially if Faleke makes real his threat to excuse himself from the inauguration.
In the above scenario, the Speaker will move to the West and the Deputy Speaker to the Central and Majority Leader to the East.
Already, Prince Yomi Kolawole is being touted as the next Speaker of the House, if he is able to extricate himself from his ties to some opponents of Bello. In his stead, the House may settle for one of the members representing Yagba East and Yagba West, who are both members of the dominant party in the House.
Operating with minority lawmakers in the House
The political consanguinity of the new governor will also be put to test by the fact that his All Progressives Congress is in minority in the House.
Cordial engagement
However, the governor’s spin doctors are working round the legislators to ensure a robust and cordial engagement with the rival legislators. Analysts believe the governor may need to heavily lobby opposition legislators to get them on his side.
Populist programmes
Pundits believe Kogites will begin to put the new governor in the spotlight from his first day in office.
Alh. Yahaya Adoza Bello is believed to be ready to put himself right into the minds of the citizenry by addressing the issues of salary arrears and infrastructural deficiency.
The governor may also need to appease the Kogi East people through policies and programmes that will guarantee them security under the new arrangement. To insiders, this is not the best of jobs. But to Bello, fixing Kogi is a task that he must face.
Kogi: The race of intrigues
How candidates emerged
The nomination of the APC candidate for the election was not without the usual political desperation. The late Prince Abubakar Audu came into the contest with a princely veteran status. But the generation that greatly craved for change and end to ethnic tension in the state, chose to go with Alhaji Yahaya Bello.
Smart as he was, the late Audu went back to his board to draw out a strategy that knocked others out of the contest. He set the aspirants against one another and emerged from the dust of confusion and straitjacket politics of the state.
Shortly after his emergence which sparked protest, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) also came with its own version of uncertainty. The party leaders were fixated on the confused spot of who to choose between an incumbent governor and Alhaji Isah Jibrin Echocho. The likes of Senator Smart Adeyemi and initially, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris were said to be rooting for Echocho.
However, Wada emerged from the ashes of intense political horse-trading and concessions.
Ashes of the primaries
Dissatisfied with the APC primaries’ outcome, Bello and other lobby groups raised alarm over some infringements against the party guidelines and constitution. Audu’s Board of Trustees membership status to the point of primary was said to have offended the letters of the party’s laws. A panel was set up to investigate the infraction.
The panel which was headed by Dr. Sam Sam Jaja, recommended the disqualification of Prince Abubakar Audu. But some powerful influences within the party halted the implementation of the report.
Also, at its primaries, PDP lost the boat. Alh. Isah Jibrin Echocho, one of the most respected Igala leaders, abandoned the party for APC. That action jolted PDP in Kogi East.
The choice of Faleke as running mate to the late Prince Abubakar Audu also created crisis within the leadership of the APC. It was believed that most of the leaders saw Faleke as a Lagos politician who had never supported the party in the state.
Further down the road are candidates who were in the race with little or no chance of winning. Some of them are Dr. Philip Salawu of the Labour Party, Mr. Emmanuel Enesi Ozigi of the PPA and others.
The campaign colours
As the electioneering commenced, the parties hit the road to woo voters.
The PDP and APC were the heaviest spenders as billions of naira were sunk into the campaign. Also, the campaign recorded a few disturbances across the state.
Election day drama
The November 21, 2015 governorship election would go down as historic.
The APC was able to win in all the three senatorial districts, clinching the main strongholds of the rival PDP. It became obvious that the party was about to cruise home to victory but the history changed.
Inconclusive polls and Audu’s death
Within 24 hours, a series of events occurred in quick succession to alter the destiny of the state. Skirmishes in some areas made the polls inconclusive as the number of votes in the affected areas was higher than the margin between the two leading parties.
INEC decided to fix a date for a supplementary poll. Then, the big masquerade, Prince Abubakar Audu died. The death of Audu threw the state into legal pandemonium as APC would have to replace its fallen candidate.
At the end of day, APC decided to go for the candidate who was runner-up to the late Audu. Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello was elevated to replace Audu.
And Faleke kicked, and is still kicking
The choice of Bello as the replacement for the late Prince Audu sparked protests in the camp of the latter’s running mate, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke. To Faleke, he was the rightful owner of the votes cast for the Audu/Faleke ticket.
Also, the candidate of the PDP, Capt Idris Wada also claimed to be the candidate with “the highest votes alive”.
The Kogi scenario turned every Nigerian into lawyers. However, efforts at stopping the conduct of the supplementary poll was aborted by a Federal High Court in Abuja, which asked all parties to pursue their cases at the tribunal.
Bello won the supplementary poll
Analysts are of the opinion that Bello’s victory at the supplementary poll was a departure from the ethnic politics of the state. In the supplementary poll, the Kogi East people for the first time, cast their votes for a non-Igala to be governor.
With the victory of APC, Yahaya Bello was declared Governor-elect, with Faleke retained as his Deputy.
While Faleke has consistently denied running a joint ticket with Bello, he has curiously approached the Elections Petitions Tribunal to set aside the victory of Bello and declare him the governor of the state.
While the world is keen on the outcome of the titanic horn-locking at the tribunal, attention has been shifted to the inauguration of the new government on Wednesday, January 27, 2016.
-Vanguard/Leadership