A new twist entered the political debacle in Kogi State Thursday as Mr James Abiodun Faleke, the running mate of the All Progressives Congress’s (APC) governorship candidate in Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu who died last Sunday, has written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) asking that he be declared the winner of the inconclusive election.
In a letter written by his lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, Faleke said that the only option opened to INEC is to declare him the governor-elect.
Olanipekun wrote, “What INEC should do is to obey, respect and comply with the letters, spirit, intendment and tenor of the constitution by not only declaring APC as the winner of the election, but by also declaring our client as the Governor-elect.”
He said that INEC’s directive to APC to conduct a new primary to select a candidate to replace Audu was, “unfounded, both legally and constitutionally.
“It can also not be reasonably or rationally defended.”
He drew the attention of the INEC ‘s Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu to the provision of section 68(1) and (c) of the Electoral Act to the effect that any result declared by Returning Officer shall be final and binding, and can only be reviewed or upturned by an election tribunal.
Excerpts from the letter read: “In law and logic, no new candidate can inherit or be a beneficiary of the votes already cast, counted and declared by INEC before that candidate was nominated and purportedly sponsored.
“Assuming without conceding that INEC is even right to order a supplementary election, the votes already cast, counted and declared on Saturday and Sunday, 21st and 22nd November, 2015 were voted for the joint constitutional ticket of Abubakar Audu and our client.
“Therefore, no new or supplementary candidate can hijack, aggregate, appropriate or inherit the said votes.
“Assuming further, without conceding, that supplementary election in 91 polling units can hold as being suggested by INEC, it is our client who should be the automatic candidate of the party, since APC cannot conduct primary election for the supplementary election in 91 polling units.”
Olanipekun told the INEC Chairman that the commission was under obligation to declare Faleke the governor-elect.
” Any attempt to conduct any supplementary election in any unit whatsoever and howsoever will amount to INEC breaching and flouting the constitution and our client would definitely challenge it,” he threatened.
A similar letter was written to the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Oyegun.
In the letter to Oyegun, Olanipekun said: “Our client enjoins the APC not only to support him at actualizing the mandate already given to the party under the joint ticket of himself and Audu, but to also distance itself from the ‘Greek gift’ offer being made by INEC, to wit, that it is allowing the APC to conduct a fresh primary election to nominate a candidate for a supplementary election in 91 polling units, where only about 25,000 PVCs are available, whereas the APC is already leading, by the announced results, with over 40.000 voted.”
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