Last Saturday’s inconclusive governorship
election in Kogi State is tearing the ruling All
Progressives Congress apart.
Saturday PUNCH learnt on Friday that the APC
leaders became divided shortly after the
Independent National Electoral Commission
asked the party to submit a substitute for its
governorship candidate, Prince Abubakar Audu,
who died on Sunday.
The commission had on Sunday declared the
governorship election inconclusive.
It was gathered that party leaders, including
President Muhammadu Buhari; a former Lagos
State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; the APC
National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun
and an ex-governor of Kano State, Alhaji Rabiu
Kwankwaso had yet to agree on Audu’s
replacement.
INEC had declared the election inconclusive
because cancelled votes or registered voters in
places where elections did not take place were
49,953, a figure higher than Audu’s lead of
41,353.
The commission had on Tuesday written the APC,
directing it to submit a replacement for Audu.
The APC also disclosed that it would hold a fresh
primary to produce a replacement for Audu.
INEC also fixed December 5 as the date for
supplementary election in the state.
Besides Audu’s son, Mohammed, who has been
endorsed for the primary by Kogi East elders,
others, who are said to be interested in the
governorship slot include Yaya Bello; a former
governorship candidate of the Peoples
Democratic Party, Jubril Echocho; Salihu Atawoda
and Audu’s running mate, James Faleke.
Investigations showed that right from the outset,
Buhari did not support Audu partly because of
his closeness to a former Kano State governor,
Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Buhari was reported to have a soft spot for James
Ocholi, who is now his Minister of State for
Labour and Employment.
A Presidency source said after the death of the
APC governorship candidate, the President
shifted his support to Bello, who came second at
the primary, where Audu emerged as the party’s
candidate.
The source said that the President “is not a type
of person that would impose his will on others.”
Buhari’s Attorney General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, while
advising the APC to substitute Audu, had hinted
that Bello might emerge as the replacement for
the deceased candidate.
When asked whether Faleke would become the
APC candidate or not, Malawi told journalists
that the primary that produced Audu was still
valid. He had said, “It all depends on the appreciation
of issues arising from the primary conducted
before now. There was a first and a second
candidate. The primary that had taken place over
time had not by anyway been nullified. And it is
recognised by law.
“But then, a further consideration would be the
idea of conducting another primary; but that is
not envisaged in view of the sustainability of the
first primary.”
It was also gathered that Tinubu was a strong
supporter of Audu, but he was of the view that
Faleke, his political godson, should naturally be
a replacement for the deceased governorship
candidate.
A member of the APC National Working
Committee, who confided in Saturday PUNCH,
said, “From all indications, Tinubu is now
backing Faleke. He believes that Faleke is part of
the APC governorship ticket and that it will
amount to injustice if a fresh primary is held.”
It was, however, gathered that the APC NWC
members, including Odigie-Oyegun, insisted on a
fresh primary because they were opposed to
Bello.
It was learnt that Odigie-Oyegun, like the APC
leaders in Kogi East, might support Audu’s son.
A member of the NWC, who confided in one of
our correspondents, said, “We felt the pulse of
the people of the state and most of them are
rooting for Mohammed. Besides, Bello does not
have the type of political clout that Audu had,
although he came second in the primary.”
It was also gathered that Mohammed was being
supported by Kwankwaso, who was said to be
close to his father.
Attempts to get a response from the National
Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun
were unsuccessful. Calls to his mobile phone
were neither picked nor returned.
A response to a text message sent to him on the
subject was still being awaited as of the time of
filing this report at 8:05pm.
A similar attempt to get a response from the
Senior Special Assistant to the President on
Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, were
also unsuccessful.
Repeated calls to his mobile telephone number
went into voice mail. A response to a text
message sent to him on the subject was still
being awaited as of the time of filing this report.
8:05pm
But three days after pledging to come up with a
date for the proposed primary for the
supplementary election, the party on Friday kept
mum. Journalists had gathered at the APC National
Headquarters located at Blantyre Street, Wuse II,
Abuja, as early as 8:00am in anticipation of a
pronouncement.
Members of the party’s NWC started arriving at
the headquarters at 10:08am for a meeting. The
meeting was interrupted at various stages by
various protesting groups from Kogi State.
The series of meetings eventually ended around
5:00pm but NWC members led by the APC
national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun,
headed straight into their waiting vehicles and
zoomed off.
They did not respond to questions journalists
asked them.
The party leaders had held a similar meeting on
Thursday.
Meanwhile, support for Muhammed was
strengthened on Friday as 11 out of 25 members
of the Kogi House of Assembly insisted on him as
the APC governorship candidate.
The lawmakers, who were said to have the ear of
the party’s national chairman, after a meeting
with Odigie-Oyegun, threatened to impeach
anyone who emerged as the state governor,
unless such a person is Mohammed Audu.
The leader of the group, in an interview with
journalists, said, “We are the legislators; should
in case anybody is smuggled in, we know the
best way to remove him. It is not a threat; this
is just a two-minute job for us.”
Calls to the mobile telephone of Mr. Sunday
Dare, the Spokesperson for the National Leader
of the APC, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, indicated
that it was switched off.
A response to a text message sent to him on the
subject was still being expected as of the time of
filing this report. Punch

source: thecitizenng.com/headline-2/kogi-election-fresh-row-brews-among-apc-leaders/

APC sef are inconclusive

Nothing good can come out of APC......

ok