The Death of Prince Abubakar Audu the APC governorship candidate for the November 21 poll in the Kogi state gubernatorial election after the announcement of the inconclusive poll results threw Nigeria’s Socio-political/Legal community into a state of confusion as different opinionated fellows raised different arguments on who would become governor. The independent national electoral commission had announced the poll results as inconclusive due to the the fact that the areas were election results were cancelled had more voters than the margin between the APC’s Prince Abubakar Audu and the PDP’s Captain Idris Wada.

Abubakar Audu
Many social commentators had challenged the basis of INEC branding the Poll as Inconclusive simply because mathematically the gap between the APC and the PDP cannot be met due to the fact that out of the 49,000 eligible voters in the 91 Polling units only 25,000 to 36,000 had collected there PVCs. The PVCs unfortunately are not recognized by the electoral act as only registered voters are recognized. Section 181(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria states that
“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.”

Unfortunately for Abiodun Faleke the deputy Governorship candidate of the APC and the Lawmaker representing Ikeja Federal constituency at the Federal house of representative, this section does not avail him neither can he claim privilege of its meaning as the election is yet to be concluded. This Situation is a major test of Nigeria’s statutory authorities and its Jurisprudence as the constitution or the Electoral Act 2010 as amended does not provide express provisions for this kind of event. In simple terms if Prince Abubakar Audu had died after the Electoral Commission had declared him elected, Faleke would have been the substantive governor of the state.
Section 221 of the constitution states that
“No association, other than a political party, shall canvass for votes for any candidate at any election or contribute to the funds of any political party or to the election expenses of any candidate at an election.”
This section effectively settles the question of what happens to the votes accruing to the APC and Prince Audu as a votes incurred in an election belong to a political party. Also it was established in the case of Rotimi amaechi vs INEC And the PDP that the votes of a party remain the same irrespective of a candidate put forward by the party and all other rules guiding valid nomination of candidates are followed by the party.
The Electoral Act 2010, Nigeria’s legislation governing the Running, conduct of election as well as the powers of the independent national electoral commission also has a say in this tussle playing up in Kogi state. The Electoral act in S33 states
“No Political Party shall be allowed to change or substitute its candidate whose name has been submitted pursuant to Section 32 of this of this Act, except in the case of death or withdrawal by the candidate”
Whilst it’s clear to see that no political party shall substitute a candidate whose name has been earlier submitted except in situations such as death or the withdraw of a candidate, a political party (In this case APC) has the power to substitute a dead candidate at any given time before a candidate has being declared elected by the electoral body has already stated in Section 181(1) of the 1999 constitution. Now the provisions of Section 36(1) requires careful perusal as it goes thus
“If after the time for the delivery of nomination paper and before the Commencement of the poll, a nominated candidate dies, the Chief National Electoral Commissioner or the Resident Electoral Commissioner shall, being satisfied of the fact of the death, countermand the poll in which the deceased Death of a candidate was to participate and the Commission shall appoint some other convenient date for the election within 14 days”
Bello with PMBWith the APC officially notifying INEC of the death of its flagbearer, INEC countermanded the polls in which Prince Abubakar Audu was to participate ( The Polls in this case was the 91 polling units spread across in the 3 senatorial districts) And Notified the APC to replace its Candidate in the November 21 elections. The Electoral umpire having fixed the date of the elections to hold in 91 Pus is expected to accept the new candidate of the APC. Any aggrieved party is advised to go to court so as to expand the jurisprudence inherent in the Nigerian Legal system and if possible demand is right.
It’s noteworthy to mention that any mistake by the APC and INEC could lead to the PDP taking advantage of such loophole. S 87 of the Electoral act plays a pivotal role in delimiting the pool of candidates through which APC can pick its candidates from. The All progressives Congress had held a Direct primaries for the selection of its governorship candidate and Alhaji Yahaya Bello emerged as the runner up. Permit to reproduce the provisions of S87 (1) (2) and (9) of the Electoral act
“-(1) A political party seeking to nominate candidates for elections under this Act shall hold primaries for aspirants to all elective positions.
(2) The procedure for the nomination of candidates by political parties for the various elective positions shall be by direct or indirect primaries.”
Alhaji Bello gains the advantage of this section has he participated in the primaries as well as screening stages conducted by the parties, the Deputy governorship candidate could have had the seat comfortably and staked a better claim if he had contested the primaries but its quite disheartening to find out that he didn’t S87(9) disqualifies him effectively
Where a political party fails to comply with the provisions of this Act in the conduct of its primaries, its candidate for election shall not be included in the election for the particular position in issue.
Section 141 of the electoral act also disqualifies any other candidate inclusive of Faleke, Mohammed Audu, Echocho and a host of others that may be interested in the governorship ticket as it reads thus
“An election tribunal or court shall not under any circumstance declare any person a winner at an election in which such a person has not fully participated in all the stages of the said election.”
On this basis it is not too difficult to see on what premise the All Progressives Congress bases its choice of Alhaji Yahaya Bello the Runner up in the APC Governorship primaries as its substitute for the late Prince Abubakar Audu

coolhamid:
Nice post , its so disheartening that the so called learned ones on Nairaland are calling on faleke to go to court so as to claim his mandate.
_
If APC should make the mistake of fielding faleke as a replacement for Audu, then PDP would surely have a strong case in the court of law because Faleke never participated in the primary election.
Fair Plus is the right choice...

jamace:
I beg to disagree with you. Faleke having been running mate to Audu, by induction is qualified to step into Audu's shoes in this situation because it was Audu/Faleke ticket. The issue of primaries and whatever, are requirements before the commencement of the election proper. And now that the election has reached 90% conclusion, the running mate (Faleke) does not need primaries to be declared governorship candidate. If Faleke was qualified to be running mate to Audu, he should also be qualified to step into Audu's shoes in this present circumstance.

Whatever reasons proponents of Yahaya bello have, should be reserved until the constitution and electoral acts are amended.
For now, give Faleke the chance to conclude the election as governorship candidate, while Yahaya Bello should be his running mate.

coolhamid:
By induction , nothing like by induction in the constitution. Constitution never states that in the case of death of the governorship candidate, the running mate should be allowed to continue " by induction". This is the constitution stance , “-(1) A political party seeking to nominate candidates for elections under this Act shall hold primaries for aspirants to all elective positions.
(2) The procedure for the nomination of candidates by political parties for the various elective positions shall be by direct or indirect primaries.” And the constitution is supreme. Faleke never participated in the Primary Election, he was only picked by Audu as his running mate.Which means he is not qualified according to the constitution

jamace:
The quoted section is only valid before the commencement of an election. And if we must obey it, then fresh primaries and fresh election must be conducted.

pus22:
Yahaya bello will never be governor. The writter is an illiterate.don't let him waste his money.

Falake is already Governor elect depending.

Deputy means a replacement. And who is a replacement for Audu. Falake.


Inec will reject any other candidate who is not falake. Election.

Falake most face wada in the remain
As far as the las is concern falake is the governor elect depending

coolhamid:
You didn't read the part of the constitution which states that the party has the power to field another candidate that participated in the Primary election in this kind of situation? Dude faleke knows that in a situation like this, the party is supreme and he has no case against the party. The party can choose to field any candidate provided that such candidate was part of the Primary Election.Faleke would have had a case to prove in the court of law if AUDU was the declared the winner of the election by INEC and APC is trying to replace him, but that is not the case at hand now. The election is yet to be concluded and faleke was never part of the Primary Election

jamace:
Faleke has a strong case. All requirements were fulfilled before the commencement of the election. He is to continue the mandate of the party. If the party sees him as inconsequential in the race, then he should step down.
Fresh primaries and fresh election by all political parties would be the way to go should Faleke be relegated to the background.

adaweezy:

And faleke can be the flag bearer from the new primaries

jamace:
Faleke has a strong case. All requirements were fulfilled before the commencement of the election. He is to continue the mandate of the party. If the party sees him as inconsequential in the race, then he should step down.
Fresh primaries and fresh election by all political parties would be the way to go should Faleke be relegated to the background.

coolhamid:
So faleke can go against the party directives right ? The party decision is final and he must abide by the party final decision or he can move to another party to actualize is ambition.
FYI, I am not APC or PDP member. Just stating the facts.

jamace:
Good. Faleke should step down if denied the mandate.
FYI, I am not APC or PDP member, just agitating for fairness and justice. It could be you or me tomorrow.

jamace:

Of course, yes. Some people should not use "force majeure" to settle political scores.

adaweezy:

Faleke would lose in a new election

coolhamid:
Dude, politics is all about being loyal. If I am in faleke's shoes, I would listen to the party. Afterall, without the party's support he won't have been nominated as Audu's running mate in the first place. He may not have the support of the party today due to the reasons best known to the party elders, but the truth is that when a bigger opportunity present its in future, the same party elders that didn't support him now may choose to support him then.

jamace:
No qualms. Just give him his due.

adaweezy:

PDP supporter

Herald47:
Why is tinubu a.k.a jagaban of the yorubas silent over this issue

coolhamid:
So faleke can go against the party directives right ? The party decision is final and he must abide by the party final decision or he can move to another party to actualize is ambition.
FYI, I am not APC or PDP member. Just stating the facts.

Alphaoscar:





talking about being loyal is Yahaya bello a loyal party man??

Was he even at the late candidate's burial ? I can't remember him issuing any condolence message to the party and the family of the late candidate.


I don't know either of them but Bello is undeserving of that post.

there was a primary organized by the party and a winner emerged but he got so bitter that he refused to support the party during the electioneering period and he worked against the party and the candidate now he expects to reap the fruit of that same candidate that toiled day and night to ensure that the defeat an incumbent governor to the extent that the candidate lost his life.

adaweezy:

he did release a statement
Meanwhile read how APC cheated Yahaya Bello
[b]Recall that other APC aspirants in the primaries had challenged Audu’s victory, while the runners up at the election, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, had written a petition condemning the exercise.

Chaired by Dr Sam Sam Jaja, with Mr Ahmad El-Marzuq and Mr Tunde Imolehin serving as secretary and member respectively, the appeal panel in an 11-page report, called for the nullification of Audu’s election and asked the party to replace him with Alhaji Bello.

The panel made reference to the case o of Hope Uzodinma vs Senator Osita Izunaso, where the court insisted that ”a political party must obey its constitution”.

In his petition to the party, Bello had accused Audu of not resigning as a member of the BoT of the party before contesting in the primary, as stipulated in the constitution of the party in Article (I) iii which states that: “Any such party office holder or officer of the party who is interested in contesting for an elective position within or at a general election shall resign 30 days before the date of the nomination or party primary for that office he is contesting for.”

His argument is that “By virtue of his membership of the BoT pursuant to Article 14 (III) (e) of the 2014 Guidelines for the Nomination of Candidates for Public Office, such party officers are not allowed to vote as statutory delegates.”

According to a source close to the panel members, “Part of the findings of the report was that there was video evidence showing Audu casting his vote at the primary election. The appeal committee had already recommended that Audu be disqualified while the runner up in the primary election (Yahaya Bello) be presented to INEC as the APC gubernatorial candidate for the state 2015 governorship election.”

Some members of the party are already suggesting that the election should be shifted by a few weeks to allow the APC address the issues arising from the panel’s decision.

“In the event Audu is retained, Bello is not trusted to be willing to mobilise for him due to the loud cry for power shift by his people in Kogi Central. If Audu is substituted for Bello you, guess is as good as mine. That it has become clear to President Muhammadu Buhari and the party that the anti-corruption stance of the new government and its renewed commitment to rule of law will be jeopardized if it doesn’t do something about the candidacy of Audu.

“Yahaya Bello in his petition also raised the allegations of embezzlement of N11 billion and the court case involving the former governor instituted by the EFCC. Giving President Buhari’s staunch anti-corruption stance and APC change mantra of the APC, it is left to be seen if such a seminal report can be swept under the carpet,” a source told Thisday.[/b]


Muiz Banire, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, Obafemi hamzat, supo shasore, Leke Pitan did not campaign for ambode.
Did APC and its members brand them unloyal for not campaigning for Ambode??

Alphaoscar:





apart from Leke Pitan the other aspirants listed above later endorsed the candidature of Ambode before the election and worked for the party in one capacity or the other.


no political party can satisfy the aspirations of all its members even Tinubu , Buhari and other leaders cant have it all in the and they will have or two areas where they feels they can be better handled by the party and having one grievance against your party is not an excuse for working against the party. Now turning around to aspire to be the ultimate beneficiary of that struggle will be a great disservice to the members of the party in Kogi state.


My main issue against him is on his anti party conduct during the electioneering period.

adaweezy:

Morally erred but legally correct, If APC does not choose him they lose the Kogi seat
but AYB was a loyal party memeber when he supported PMB. Do you know Audu supported Buhari's opponents. Audu lost his PU, ward LGA and Senatorial district during the presidential election....
Its not a new thing in my states politics...
What my people should worry about is How the speaker seat would go to the Igalas