APC should thread carefully and be properly guided in their decision. Conducting another primary at this point in time will throw up more constitutional questions. What if the new candidate decides to choose another person as running mate? What if Faleke decides to participate in the new primary and then loses, will he be dropped from the ticket? The Audu/Faleke ticket is a joint ticket. If anything happens to the number one person on the ticket, the number two automatically steps up to be the number. That is the essence of having a deputy on the ticket in the first place.

ok

Kogi! Igala! hmm

Yahaya bello will want to pick his own running mate instead of Faleke

Bobbystanley:
Time for Wada to decamp to APC.


You know,Our politicians can do anything to remain in the Corridors of power

But I would suggest the give Yahaya Bello the ticket since he was second in the last Primary election in which Audu won instead of wasting time, energy and resources conducting a new primary election.

Fingers crossed

hmmmmmm. APC. happy Christmas in advance.

englishmart:
enough of this kogi state matter abeg. Make person drink water drop cup joor

You dey drink water carry cup before? abegi..make we hear word

This time it's all about Kogi State.

That primary will be hotter than the governorship election self ..cos who ever wins automatically becomes governor

The ticket should just be handle to Faleke since he and Audi both amassed dos nos of vote...he Faleke should just pick a running mate instead of goin thru a fresh primary election

lotite:

Lol. Are you there agent? Y don't you post the link instead

TonyeBarcanista:
James Faleke should go to court. I'm sure the SC will nullify the said primary election. The EA never give room for conduct of primary during election. James Faleke should be the substantive candidate of APC.

Unless INEC cancels the whole election, Faleke has every right to become governorship candidate. They cannot transfer already cast votes to a fresh candidate. I guess the supreme court will not accept it.

APC should do the right thing, not ethnic or religious consideration.

Dis is just a plan to unseat the Christians in Kogi Governorship seat. Wats wrong if S. 188 of the Constitution is invoked? That section of the Constitution says in the light of death by any person, the deputy shld replace him. Religions.... Kai

APC as a party has to exercise some caution here.
At this juncture, Oyegun should not allow himself to be pushed by some dubious politicians here, he has to seek legal advice before going ahead with a fresh primary.
Faleke, the deputy governor aspirant has a right to becoming a governor-elect too. He too must have put a lot into this inconclusive election, be it energy, time and most importantly money.
If he is schemed out of this contest, i see him approaching the court to fight his course. And he may probably be successful.
Must a session of the state lay claim to always become the governor of the state. Did the Northerners reject GEJ when he became the president following the demise of his boss, Alhaji Umaru Yaradua? No!
The right thing should be done to avert this seemingly crisis in APC.

WAIT LEMME ASK IFA


Show some love nd download my first single ... A cover of jeson derulo talk dirty.... http://www.datafilehost.com/d/d95e2f79

Acidosis:


I'm from Kogi state. I can tell you that over 90% of Igala people hate Okun tribe and the Ebira people.

An Average Igala man will give his mandate to a STONE with Igala origin before considering the Okuns and the Ebiras.


They have the Minister, They have Wada, They had Audu.


Whoever nominates another Igala gubernatorial candidate in Kogi state will drop dead mysteriously! His or Her death would be gladly celebrated by ME.


The era of born to rule is over. It is either they shift the mantle to Faleke or Yahaya Bello (Ebira).

I'm here to warn the Igalas that POWER belongs to God only. Anyone among you who dare to lure this position to another Dekina or Igala man will drop dead and vomit blood.

Sooner or later, the bigot in them sneaks up.

The Kogi debacle and the law

My silent prayer after my friend broke the news of Prince Abubakar Audu’s death to me on WhatsApp, was that it would turn one of those wolf cries by those I call busy body mushroom bloggers. But in a bid to substantiate his claims, he came up with screen shots of credible sites and blogs. At this point, I was left with nothing but to philosophise on the ephemeralness of life. I reminded myself of one of my lines that “this breath may just be my last.” While I felt pity for the Audu’s, the government and good people of Kogi State and as well pray for the needed fortitude to bear the loss, I, in no time began receiving calls from friends and associates demanding my opinion on the legal implications of the circumstance.

At that point, having not had a fresh consultation on the specific laws on the subject, I had to make do with the reserved idea on the matter in expressing my opinion. The opinion barring any superior legal argument, after due consultation, appears the exact position of the law.

The legal issue in vogue is the position of the law, when a substantive candidate in an election dies during the holding of that election. Opinions would necessarily be divided between two lines to wit:

That the running mate be made to assume the position of the demised candidate; or,
2.That a fresh election be conducted, having regard to the procedures outlined in the electoral laws.

For the proponents of the earlier view, their argument would be that since they ran on a joint ticket, it would be left for the running mate to be sworn in.

The most convenient port to sail from in an issue as this, is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended); being the captain of the gamut of our laws. For reason of aptness, consideration shall be had of Section 181 of the constitution. It provides:

1.“If a person duly elected as Governor dies before taking and subscribing the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Office, or is unable for any reason whatsoever to be sworn in, the person elected with him as Deputy Governor shall be sworn in as Governor and he shall nominate a new Deputy Governor who shall be appointed by the Governor with the approval of a simple majority of the House of Assembly of the State”

The above perhaps, is what informs the opinion of the proponents of the former view. In sharp deference however, note must be taken of the operative phrases of “duly elected” and “dies before subscribing the oath of allegiance and oath of office”. In simple terms, the provision invariably emphasises on the time of death, being after a due election and before being sworn in as a governor.

Such a reasonable question as “when is a person deemed to have been duly elected” will then follow. Again, recourse is had to Section 179 (2) of the constitution. In interpreting when a candidate will be deemed to have been duly elected, it states that-

“a candidate for the office of governor of a state shall be deemed to have been duly elected where there being two or more candidates-

(a) He has the highest number of votes cast at the election; and

(b) He has not less than one quarter of all the votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of all the local government areas in the state.

By the further implication of Section 27 of the Electoral Act, only the Independent National Electoral Commission, through its officers, has the power to announce a candidate as having won any election; subject however to the jurisdiction of Courts and Tribunals.

As straight as the instant case would have been if INEC had before the death, declared Audu the winner of the Kogi election, news however emerged that the election had been declared inconclusive. To this extent, no candidate of the election under consideration could have been deemed as already duly elected, and for which reason, Section181 of the constitution becomes inapplicable in the circumstance.

Another provision worthy of consideration is Section 36 of the Electoral Act. It provides that if after the delivery of nomination papers and before the commencement of the poll, a nominated candidate dies, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (in the instant case), shall countermand the polling which the deceased candidate was meant to participate and the commission shall appoint a convenient date for the election within 14 days.This provision would have in all fours been considered the saving point. Alas, this will not be the case, as the time of death again raises another distinguishing element. Had Audu died before the commencement of this election, then the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Kogi State would have been under legal obligation to postpone the election to another convenient date within 14 days. During such time, the party would be under an obligation to as a matter of internal arrangement nominate another candidate for the election. Unfortunately, this circumstance is not the case.

So many other legal factors inform the position that the running mate may not be in the right position to assume the votes accredited to Audu. The Supreme Court authority of ROTIMI AMAECHI v. INEC which used to be the law that the political parties in an election should be the subject of the election and not the candidate who stood the election, has been overruled. Following the amendment to the Electoral Act, the Supreme Court overruled itself in the latter case of CONGRESS FOR PROGRESSIVE CHANGE & ANOR V. HON. EMMANUEL DAVID OMBUGADU & ANOR(2013) LPELR-21007(SC). While interpreting Section 141 of the Electoral Act, the Court held that parties do not contest, win or lose election directly; but that they do so by the candidates they sponsored and before a person can be returned as elected by a tribunal or Court, that person must have fully participated in all the stages of the election, starting from nomination to the actual voting. Ngwuta JSC, expressly stated that the National Assembly has by Section 141 of the Electoral Act set aside the decision of the court in AMAECHI v. INEC (2008) 5 NWLR (Pt 1080) page 227 at 296. It is for the reason that it must be observed that notwithstanding the fact that both Audu and Abiodun Faleke contested under a joint ticket, while Audu contested as the governor, Faleke only contested as a deputy and was being voted as such.

Although it is conceded that the circumstance poses some novelty to our laws, it only appeals to legal reasoning that the needful for INEC in the circumstance is to issue directions as to the conduct of a fresh election and to direct that parties nominate candidates in line with the Electoral Act.

Equally, considering the triteness of the law that the government cannot operate in a vacuum, the question as to who acts upon the expiration of Captain Idris Wada’s term also becomes pertinent. It is my view that the incumbent Speaker of the Kogi House of Assembly will so act, and upon the inauguration of a new Assembly, the new Speaker will also succeed the incumbent Speaker both as the Speaker of the House of Assembly and the Acting governor of the state.

seunmsg:
APC should thread carefully and be properly guided in their decision. Conducting another primary at this point in time will throw up more constitutional questions. What if the new candidate decides to choose another person as running mate? What if Faleke decides to participate in the new primary and then loses, will he be dropped from the ticket? The Audu/Faleke ticket is a joint ticket. If anything happens to the number one person on the ticket, the number two automatically steps up to be the number. That is the essence of having a deputy on the ticket in the first place.

But Faleke didnt contest primary which can be exploited by PDP. If APC had won the election already before the sad event rather than the inconclusive we have now, then the deputy theory taking over would have made sense i think.

Treash:
Dis is just a plan to unseat the Christians in Kogi Governorship seat. Wats wrong if S. 188 of the Constitution is invoked? That section of the Constitution says in the light of death by any person, the deputy shld replace him. Religions.... Kai

Why are you bringing religion to this discussion?

We have Nicholas Ogbane, Dagana Emmanuel, Stephen Achema and countless Christians who have been into political office.

We don't do religion politics in Kogi state.

AreaFada2:


Unless INEC cancels the whole election, Faleke has every right to become governorship candidate. They cannot transfer already cast votes to a fresh candidate. I guess the supreme court will not accept it.

APC should do the right thing, not ethnic or religious consideration.

INEC has no power to cancel election once result is declared. They should forget about pleasing any ethnic majority at the expense of justice. Faleke is the legitimate candidate.

The 2nd most popular man in kogi after Audu is a man named Ochocho.
Though don't know his party nor his tribe

Apc should better guide and watch their action, they are currently the rulling party. Their actions and inaction may bounce on them in the days to come. What's the essence of having another primary when the deceased candidate has his running mate? Is Faleke not competent enough? Or going by the essence of Vp position, is he not meant to assume his running mate position in case of eventuality?


Apc should do what is right and stop approaching issues from all angles

TonyeBarcanista:

INEC has no power to cancel election once result is declared. They should forget about pleasing any ethnic majority at the expense of justice. Faleke is the legitimate candidate.

If they do, SC will have last word.

AreaFada2:


Unless INEC cancels the whole election, Faleke has every right to become governorship candidate. They cannot transfer already cast votes to a fresh candidate. I guess the supreme court will not accept it.

APC should do the right thing, not ethnic or religious consideration.

it's not about being brilliant. . You're also reasonable.

I think a fresh poll should be conducted.
Since he's yet to be announced 'duly' elected governor as the constitution prescribe.

You mean to pick "who's next to diee"

CharliParker:
waste of money,life, time and resources.

Na Federal Government money ooo

The life na God get am

The time and resources FG. Money go buy am

kahal29:
In the light of the new development. I think Yahaya bello should replace Audu since he came second in the primaries to avoid any legal loophole the other parties might want to exploit. For the Igala's they already have a minister in the person of ocholi who happens to come from the same Dekina LGA with wada, the okuns have the deputy in the person of faleke while the Ebira's will now be allowed to produce the Governor. I think this will balance things in the state. In addittion, to appease the Igala's the more maybe they should also be allowed to produce the speaker while the okun's will produce the deputy speaker of the house of assembly.

if APC mistakingly pick ebira my man PDP don entered be dat. Igala ppl neva one day believed dat any other tribe could rule kogi apart from them...but let see how is unfold...let d drama/game begin...

Lyoncrescent:


But Faleke didnt contest primary which can be exploited by PDP. If APC had won the election already before the sad event rather than the inconclusive we have now, then the deputy theory taking over would have made sense i think.

My brother, don't view from that angle sir.,
Audu won primary and has bestow trust in Faleke as his running mate,. People had already casted their vote for them, hence a new candidate can't just emerge to claim those vote.

No one can categorically state that vote acquired by the two men was in favour of either Audu or Faleke. They will both share the Glory. So Faleke should be uplift to the Govt candidate

Inec can not declear the election inclucusive because it was just maths calculation.

The claim that kogi state is not that populated is nonsense. It wilis only half a million

Kogi state population is more than 4 million. Half a million is just 13% of the population

Acidosis:


I'm from Kogi state. I can tell you that over 90% of Igala people hate Okun tribe and the Ebira people.

An Average Igala man will give his mandate to a STONE with Igala origin before considering the Okuns and the Ebiras.


They have the Minister, They have Wada, They had Audu. They've ruled for 16 years, Okun man ruled for 3 months, Ebira man 0 second.


Whoever nominates another Igala gubernatorial candidate in Kogi state will drop dead mysteriously! His or Her death would be gladly celebrated by ME.


The era of born to rule is over. It is either they shift the mantle to Faleke or Yahaya Bello (Ebira).

Be careful of what you type on public forum.

OAM4J, Afam4eva, Lalasticlala please this is THREATENING THE ENTIRE IGALA RACE.

AJORE:
if APC mistakingly pick ebira my man PDP don entered be dat. Igala ppl neva one day believed dat any other tribe could rule kogi apart from them...but let see how is unfold...let d drama/game begin...

Bro, APC will not dare pick an Ebira man.

It will still go to the Igalas.

Audu did make a promise to hand over to either Okun or Ebira.