The tussle over the replacement for the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Kogi State, the late Prince Abubakar Audu, got messier yesterday as his camp rebuffed calls for his son, Mohammed Audu, or the first runner-up in the party’s governorship primaries, Yahaya Bello, to be given the ticket. Audu died on November 22, 2015, a day after the governorship election in the state, of undisclosed causes.
There had been calls by eminent Nigerians, including a former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, and APC lawmakers in the state house of assembly for the party to hand the ticket to Audu’s son, Mohammed.
In fact, posters of the late politician’s 43-year-old son have started circulating in the state. The Independent National Electoral Commission had advised the party to produce a fresh candidate to replace Audu.
INEC also fixed December 5 for a supplementary election in 91 polling units after it declared the November 21 poll inconclusive. In response, APC said it would hold fresh primaries to produce a new candidate. Reports said APC had picked Yahaya Bello, who came a distant second in its governorship primaries.
Audu’s followers at a press conference in the Kogi State capital, Lokoja, yesterday said he specifically told them to support his running mate, James Faleke, if he failed to make it. Head of Media, Prince Abubakar Audu/Faleke Campaign Organisation, Dr. Tom Ohikere, said Audu issued the instruction on his death bed. He said Audu believed that Faleke was best suited to carry on with his vision and warned against any attempt to impose a candidate on the state chapter.
Ohikere also accused President Muhammadu Buhari and INEC of planning to foist a Muslim candidate (Bello) on the state chapter. He also alleged that some powerful forces prevailed on INEC to declare the election inconclusive after they learnt of Audu’s death on Sunday morning.
According to Ohikere, the presidency and APC leadership cannot claim to be unaware of the provisions of the law, whereby a running mate to a deceased candidate in an ongoing election steps in as the party’s flag bearer.
“But it has been a grand conspiracy between the party leadership and the Presidency to ensure that a Muslim is used as a replacement to late Prince Abubakar Audu, who died on November 22.
The state will not only catch fire, but the late Prince Audu will rise from the grave and unleash terror on anyone involved in this conspiracy. “Let me open up to you now. Our political mentor and father, late Prince Audu on his death bed, gave instructions to us (his followers), that should he not make it, the baton must be transferred to his running mate, Faleke, whom he (Audu), said is capable of carrying on with his vision. “I want to categorically tell you that the party/executive’s conspiracy started when they heard that Prince Audu was dead.
In an ulterior move to stop a non-Muslim (Faleke), from stepping in, the INEC returning officer was quickly directed to declare the result inconclusive,” he stated. Audu’s camp also disagreed with the Attorney- General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on his position in respect of the crisis. The AGF had at a conference in Abuja advised APC to present a fresh candidate to pick up the mantle.
He also said the camp had studied the various opinions canvassed by lawyers on the matter. He, however, said Audu’s camp would not accept a situation where APC chieftains would prefer to back Wada to get a second term instead of backing Faleke to step into Audu’s shoes. Ohikere, who stressed that the AGF’s observation was a ‘pure script reading,’ said, “I don’t agree with the AGF on his position regarding the nomination of another candidate by the APC. I however agree that a supplementary election can be proceeded with by INEC.”
“I’m amazed by the welter of opinion canvassed by several leading legal icons on this seemingly thorny issue. Some have called for a fresh election, others have argue.source:nairaland
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