Kogi poll crises deepen as Faleke claims victory

All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders were battling yesterday to settle the crises –  of constitution, choices and sentiments – triggered by the death of its Kogi State governorship candidate Prince Abubakar Audu.

Amid the struggle to douse the tension by consulting its stakeholders, the party was flooded with petitions on the dispute.

Audu’s running mate Abiodun Faleke said the baton should constitutionally and logically be his as the score announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was for the Audu/Faleke ticket. A new primary, said Faleke, is out of place.

APC was leading by 41,000 votes. INEC declared the election inconclusive and ordered a supplementary election in 91 polling units. Of the 49,000 registered would-be voters in these units, only 25,000 have voter cards. This, lawyers say makes the supplementary poll unnecessary.

But, to some party leaders in Kogi East Senatorial District, the home of the late Audu, his son Muhammed should step into his father’s shoes.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it should get the prize because, in its view, with Audu’s death, APC had lost out. Its candidate and incumbent Governor Idris Wada scored 199,514 votes.