Kogi guber: Youths block major highway to protest Audu’s replacement with Bello

Some youths have blocked the major Ayangba-Abuja Highway to protest the alleged emergence of a former member of the All Progressives Congress, Yahaya Bello, as the party’s replacement for late Prince Abubakar Audu as the governorship candidate of the party in the inconclusive election in Kogi State.

Bello left the APC for the Peoples Democratic Party after he was defeated in the party’s primaries by Audu, who was coasting home to victory in the election declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Bello campaigned for the candidate of the PDP and incumbent, Governor Idris Wada, in the rundown to the election.The protesting youths blocked the Ayangba-Abuja Highway as Itobe to show their disagreement with the choice of Bello.

Though the party was yet to officially confirm Bello as the replacement for Audu, information on Friday had it that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has thrown his weight behind his emergence.

With the position of Lawal, the leadership of the APC was believed to have followed suit, thus changing its earlier position of holding fresh primaries for Audu’s replacement to emerge.

However, the leadership of the Abubakar Audu/James Faleke Campaign Organisation said on Saturday that the only way not to plunge the state into crisis was to nominate Faleke to carry on where Audu stopped.

It said the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, was only acting his selfish plot by doing otherwise.

The position of the Campaign was made known by its Head of Media, Dr. Tom Ohikere, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.