The All Progressives Congress (APC) has chosen Alhaji Yahaya Bello (“Fair Plus”) as the party’s new candidate for Kogi State governorship supplementary election slated for next week Saturday.
Bello, who came second in the August 29, 2015 party primaries, will replace the late Prince Abubakar Audu on the APC ticket after the demise of the latter on Sunday, November 22, 2015 at the peak of the collation of the election results.
The death of Audu had thrown up a legal challenge not contemplated by either the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act, compelling the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to give APC a chance to substitute its governorship candidate.
Just two days ago, the late Audu’s running mate in the inconclusive poll, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, wrote both INEC and his party, APC, telling them why he ought to be declared the governor-elect after the death of Audu, having jointly secured votes substantially required by the Constitution to win an election.
At about the same time, some leaders of the Kogi State branch of the party also presented the first son of the deceased politician, Mohammed Audu, to the national leadership of the APC to step into his late father’s shoes as the governorship candidate.
But the party hierarchy apparently ignored all these submissions and settled for Bello from Kogi Central in order not to run foul of the law.
While the late Audu polled 1,109 votes to defeat 26 other aspirants who contested with him, Bello polled 702 votes to become Audu’s closest challenger in the keenly contested governorship primary election which was adjudged free and fair.
PDP, Wada sue INEC
Meanwhile, Governor of Kogi State Idris Wada and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to declare the governor winner of the inconclusive state governorship election.
Wada, in a suit filed by his counsel, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), said that in view of the death of the All Progressives Congress’ candidate Abubkar Audu, he should be declared the winner of the botched election being the only candidate alive with the majority of lawful votes cast at the Kogi State Governorship election held on November 21, 2015.
He also asked the court to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue him with a Certificate of Return.
INEC, the Attorney General of the Federation and the APC are joined as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants respectively.
In the main, the plaintiffs also filed another application praying the court to restrain INEC from conducting the December 5 supplementary election.
Wada also asked the court to issue an order of injunction restraining APC from organizing or holding a fresh primary election for the purpose of any supplementary or other election for the Kogi State governorship election 2015.
The governor also asked the court to declare that APC cannot organise and hold a fresh primary election for the purpose of the supplementary election, having regard to the immutable statutory timeliness provided by enabling sections of the Electoral Act 2010 and the INEC timetable for Kogi Governorship election.
The plaintiffs asked the court to declare that the AGF was not competent to issue directives to INEC to allow APC to substitute its candidate for the Kogi governorship election after the commencement of the election, and that such directives are null and void and inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution.
They also asked the court to hold that APC could not lawfully nominate a candidate for the supplementary governorship election slated for December 5, 2015, without a valid and legally cognizable primary election of the APC conducted within the mandatory timeliness specified by the Electoral Act.
Wada and PDP further asked the court to declare that, “having regards to the provisions of Section 141 of the Electoral Act, 2010, votes scored by a candidate who died during an election cannot be inherited by or transferred to a person who was not a candidate at the said election and who did not participate in all stages of such election, for the purpose of concluding such election.”
-Leadership
