Another twist has been added to the debacle in Kogi state, as the deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 21 election, James Faleke, has petitioned the Federal High Court, Abuja, to declare him the governor-elect.
The governorship election in the state has been riddled with drama since the death of the APC’s gubernatorial candidate, Prince Abubakar Audu, who died before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the election “inconclusive”.
INEC had authorised the APC to replace its dead gubernatorial candidate in preparation for a December 5 supplementary election to be held in the 91 polling units in which elections were cancelled.
The APC then went ahead to select Alhaji Yahaya Bello, who came second in the primary election that produced Prince Audu, to become the party’s flagbearer in the supplementary election, a move Faleke protested.
After threatening to go to court on Monday, the deputy governorship candidate finally filed the suit on Tuesday, four days before the scheduled supplementary election.
According to Premium Times, Faleke also wrote INEC demanding the removal of his name as Bello’s running mate in the supplementary election.