‘Bello’s inauguration frightens me’
Alhaji Yahaya Bello
THE Publicity Secretary of Lagos State chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Joe Igbokwe has described the decision to swear in Alhaji Yaya Bello as the governor of Kogi State today a travesty that must be seriously considered before it is implemented.
He described the exercise as frightening and a big challenge to the country’s democracy.Igbokwe, who spoke in his personal capacity yesterday said, “Before we swear in Alhaji Yahaya Bello who never won the governorship election in Kogi State, let me caution. The system may have decided in their own wisdom to swear him in as governor but l want history to record that l saw a travesty and an aberration coming and raised an alarm. The alarm may be ignored but history, which neither personal wealth or power can circumvent will be my witness.”
According to him, “The truth here and nothing but the truth is that the late Chief Abubakar Audu/ James Abiodun Faleke won the November 21 2015 governor election fair and square before Audu’s death the following day. When the news filtered into the public space that Audu had died what the State’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer, Professor Emmanuel Kucha would have done is to do an urgent truthful and honest consultations, carry out a simple arithmetic, check the number of registered voters, check the number of those with the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) in the 91 polling units. The World was told that there are 49,000 registered voters in the remaining 91 polling units and out of that 49,000 voters only 25,000 have PVCs. But the late Audu was leading with 41,000 votes. Assuming that all the 25,000 persons with PVCs voted for the PDP, Audu would still have beaten the outgoing governor, Idris Wada with 16,000 votes.
“This professor turned sound reasoning upside down by saying the election was inconclusive and ordered for supplementary election in the remaining 91 polling units. Now what was the result? Only about 10,000 votes were garnered in the futile exercise that wasted everybody’s precious gift of time, energy, money, strength and power.”
He continued that a combination of ethnic politics, primordial sentiments, and fear of the unknown led the Kogi chapter of APC and the national body of the party to do the unthinkable by pushing Alhaji Bello who lost the primaries, and may not have supported the APC’s candidate in the cause of the elections proper to take the mandate won by Prince Audu and Faleke in a keenly contested exercise fraught with excruciating pains, doubts, apprehension, anxiety, fatigue, panic and unease.
“What was their excuse? Faleke did not partake in the primaries. This is the absurdity that led to the emergence of Bello,” he said.
Igbokwe noted that the swearing in of Bello frightens him as an activist and believer in equity and social justice “it worries me to the marrows that there is deafening silence in town as if all the decent men and women who should speak out have suddenly lost their steam and voices.”
He however expresses confidence that the Supreme Court will do the needful to Faleke’s case, saying: “Audu/ Faleke got the majority of votes in Kogi governorship election and got the mandate to preside over the affairs in that state for four years. That Faleke refused to accept the poisoned chalice, as deputy governor should serve, as a signal to the interlopers and intruders in Kogi that today’s event is not the end of the matter.”
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13 Comments
Be very much afraid if you cannot allow the supreme court conclude this matter according to the rule of law as nigerians interprete it. And you are not the chairman of apc but a mere state publicity secretary…. Dont be more catholic than the pope. ..And i have no personal stake in this kogi gubernatorial brouhaha
Joe you goofed for the first time, first you are credited with high level of literacy, but you are not learned, you work from answer to question instead of the other way round, I do not blame you, you don’t have the legal knowledge. Yes, Faleke could have been the one to be sworn in as governor in place of Audu, but would he have lasted? Or you just would prefer that Faleke is a governor for a few months, then he is removed as governor. If the electoral Act says, primarily election is mandatory before you can be a governor and Faleke never partook in the primary, what would you think is the likely outcome if he is challenged in court? Bello is the right candidate and should be sworn in. Good Faleke is in court, you can wait to see the outcome, nothing will happen.
This is the moronic I have ever seen or read in any response. Bcos Faleke did not contest the primary therefore he could not have been gov? Wow! It does mean from your argument that had Audu had died in office, Faleke would not have been also sworn in because he never contested the gubernatorial primary. Therefore only those would contested can become governor. Sometimes, you do not have to be a lawyer but sound reasoning.
Bello’s days as gov is numbered. Because what APC did didn’t pass any smell test.
That was not what the guy said. He was responding to Mr. Igbokwe’s claim that Faleke should have been chosen to replace Audu. He couldn’t have been chosen because he didn’t partake in the primary. On the other hand, if Audu had died after being declared winner, then of course, Faleke automatically becomes governor.
Mr Tayo Akin, you are not looking deep or objectively at what Mr Joe is pointing out. He is saying that the whole supplementary election was illogical, needless and suspect. It could never have any impact on the initial outcome of the election won by Audu/Faleke. For INEC to have declared the election inconclusive was illegal in the first place. If you agree by common logic that the election was indeed conclusive at that point before Audu died, then it is just natural that indeed it is more appropriate for Faleke to inherit the throne of governor. The Speaker of the State House of Assembly takes oath as Deputy Gov and the House elects a new speaker.
This man Igbokwe is sound and as constant as the northern star. He makes me remember Gani Fawehinmi.
Much as ultimately it is the Courts that decide the final outcome of the Kogi elections many opinion writers seem to have somehow become biased. For one INEC is the Umpire and as such the decision taken by INEC could only be over turned by A judicial ruling. that is yet to come.
By this, therefore, the election were indeed inconclusive as at the time Price Audu passed on to the great beyond. The straight reason was to allow the sponsor of Price Audu to replace the Price with another candidate since elections have not been concluded. It was here that Mr.Faleke erred. Instead of lobbying, asking or whatever, he assumed -erroneously- that being the deputy to the Principal candidate conferred on him a eight to inherit. By Nigerian Constitution only political parties could sponsor candidates and that is that. An inconclusive cannot said tp be whole until it is concluded and that’s exactly what INEC did the intra-party squabbles of the APC is not INECs’ issue here. Mr. Faleke has shot himself in the foot if he believes he could be a governor without sponsoring political party because Courts as such cannot impose a candidate on a political party and that is that.
I forsee a fresh election in Kogi state.
To the best of my knowledge ,APC leadership decision on the substitution of Mr Bello To replace Audu is very empty,.Paradoxically Bello’s days in the state house are numbered. All the leaders that put the party to this shameful decisions should be relieved of their position. This also tell on the political adviser of the president .
I can understand the emotional argument from Joe. However, this is the first (and I doubt it will be the last) public position Joe takes on the political dispensation that I disagree with, and respectfully so. There was a process and rules of the game. Yahaya Bello have been chosen based on the rule of the game and James Faleke was the deputy Governor. He went into the election season hand-picked to be deputy Governor, he emerged as the deputy governor of Kogi State. He chooses to turn in down and remain as a public servant of Ikeja Local Government as their representative in the federal house of assembly – that is his choice. he also chooses to let the court interpret whether he should have been chosen to replace Audu, again his choice. Kogi people would move on, just as Faleke has moved on with Lagos state. As for the argument that Faleke should have been chosen by the party to succeed Audu as the governor – well, he wasn’t. deal with it. Man proposes, God disposes. Congratulations and good luck to Yahaya Bello and the people of Kogi State on the new administration. May God Bless the people of this graceful state and May God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria
I have never seen INEC Chairman like Prof inconclusiveness since I was born because the man declared the first two elections he conducted as inconclusive .Faleke will take his position from the casual tourist to the state house through the Supreme court ,while I suppose the INEC chairman should be relieved of his duty since he had not gone far in the process I doubt if this man can conduct Presidential election in 2019 unless we want lawlessness in the Country Whether Kogi people wants or not Yoruba axis of the State will rule them this time around as I can smell hate from the Ebira and the Igala people.
While I agree !00% with Joe Igbokwe, I also believe that Supreme Court upholding Wike as governor of River State is a big blow to the use of Card reader to improve the integrity of our election process & legitimising violence during elections in Nigeria.
God help Nigeria.
Bello the opportunist can enjoy his brief tenure as governor until the Supreme Court pulls the plug on this political buffoonery.
We will review and take appropriate action.