PDP vows to challenge decision How party settled for first runner-up
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Atabor Julius in Lokoja

Amid a jumble of claims and court cases in the wake of the inconclusive governorship election in Kogi State, the All Progressives Congress has chosen Alhaji Yahaya Bello as replacement for Abubakar Audu, the party’s governorship candidate who died last Sunday, a day after the election he was poised to win.


The party will present Bello to the public on Monday at its national headquarters in Abuja after a meeting of its national working committee (NWC) expected to hold Sunday night, THISDAY has learnt


THISDAY also learnt that the APC national leadership had on Friday sent representatives to aggrieved contenders for the governorship slot, including Audu’s running mate, Mr. Abiodun Faleke, and the late Audu’s family in an attempt to appease critics of Bello’s choice. Bello came second at the APC governorship primary that produced Audu.
But the national publicity secretary of Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Olisa Metuh, said his party would challenge the APC’s latest decision in court.


Audu had defeated incumbent Governor Idris Wada of PDP in the Kogi State governorship poll held penultimate Saturday, but with a margin lower than the number of registered voters in 91 polling units where elections were cancelled. This necessitated the declaration of the election as inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission, in line with the Electoral Act. INEC fixed December 5 for a supplementary election in the 91 units to determine the winner of the poll and allowed APC to replace its deceased candidate.


The election process got complicated after Audu died shortly after the declaration of the poll as inconclusive by INEC. His death created a void that has been the subject of multifarious court actions by Faleke and Wada, each of who sought to be declared winner of the poll. This was in addition to Audu’s son, who was being supported by some party members to replace his father for the planned supplementary election.


But APC has decided to pick Bello as Audu’s replacement. It was gathered that the leadership of APC took rapid steps to arrive at the choice of Bello and also ensure that his name was submitted to INEC before the close of work on Friday.


A reliable source and supporter of Bello, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue, told THISDAY yesterday that the party moved swiftly to try to circumvent a possible court injunction by the PDP that could stall APC’s attempt to substitute another candidate for Audu.


“The party had to apply common sense under the prevailing circumstances since any plan for primary will entail giving INEC 21 days’ notice, which is not feasible. Also we had to consider two available options, which are that we either say, let’s allow the deputy candidate to inherit it or get the man who came second in the earlier primary to succeed him," he said.


The source confirmed that major stakeholders of the party, including President Muhammadu Buhari, legislators, and the top echelons of the party were privy to the decision to submit Bello's name to INEC, as they were either notified or consulted on the matter.


He said, “But the first option fell short of meeting the legal requirement, which is that one has partaken in the primary to be able to contest the governorship. So we have to consider the other alternative, to go back to the validly held, above board, and transparent primary to pick the runner-up as a replacement.


“The timing of the death of the APC governorship candidate made it almost impossible for the party to consider going into fresh primary, except, of course, to fall back on the earlier primary election, which was done transparently. After consulting very widely with legal experts on various scenarios that are likely to play out, it dawned on us that Bello will be the only viable option.”
The source described the decision as the most sensible and rational option under the circumstances, adding that it is the most legally defensible action considering the legal quagmire the Kogi governorship election presented.


“It is certainly disarming; it came as rude shock, straight out of the blues. It has been a very major blow to the party and, I am sure, to the entire people of Kogi State. It could not have come at a more inconvenient time. It has brought about with it constitutional and legal challenges. But we are now on the clear path to returning normalcy to the situation," the source added.


By forwarding Bello’s name to INEC as replacement for Audu, the APC might have set the stage for legal tussle with other contenders. Faleke has written INEC to declare him winner of the November 21 election rather than go to a supplementary poll. Wada is in court challenging INEC’s decision to allow APC change its candidate and to seek to be declared winner of the election.
But the court actions do not seem to be APC’s greatest bother.


Another source in the party said, “Once APC goes through the supplementary election, wins and its candidate is sworn in as governor by January, the party can now relax to face any outcome of the legal actions, even if it means ordering for a re-run, it will be a formality.”
He said that was why the party felt rather than take the risk of doing another primary with an, obviously, controversial timing, it was better to pick Bello. And to ensure a quick resolution of the matter, the source said, the party decided to limit its consultations to few top leaders, governors and its North-central caucus in the National Assembly


It was learnt that the national leadership of APC had engaged Faleke and his team of legal advisers at the weekend in Abuja to try to dissuade him from taking any further action that may be injurious to the chances of the party at the December 5 supplementary poll.
But Metuh said the APC’s decision would be challenged in court, stressing that the votes of the deceased candidate cannot be transferred to a person who did not participate in the governorship election.


Meanwhile, some persons believed to be supporters of APC in the Eastern zone of the state, blocked the Itobe end of the Niger Bridge yesterday and disrupted traffic for hours to protest the decision of APC to settle for Bello.