James Faleke
James Abiodun Faleke, the member of the House of Representatives, who wants the Kogi Governorship Election Tribunal to declare him the governor of the state, will know his fate today.
The tribunal, chaired by Justice Halima Mohammed,sitting in Jabi, Abuja, will deliver judgment on Faleke’s petition against the incumbent Governor Yahaya Bello. Both of them belong to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The verdict on Faleke’s petition will be followed on Tuesday with that on former Governor Idris Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party who also wants the Tribunal to declare him the winner of the poll, declared initially inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the same day, the poll winner, Abubakar Audu died, suddenly.
Wednesday has been set aside for the judgment on other petitions filed by the other parties.
Bello was nominated by the APC to replace its late candidate, Abubakar Audu.
Audu died after it was clear he had galloped to victory in the polls and many media platforms had declared him the winner. But INEC ruled the election inconclusive, leading to some rerun elections in some wards and the emergence of Bello as the new APC candidate.
Faleke contested the party’s decision and even INEC’s decision to declare the election inconclusive. Because of his position, he declined to be the running mate to Bello in the supplementary election. Bello was eventually declared the governor and sworn -in in January.
Faleke thereafter launched his legal dispute at the tribunal, asking it to declare him governor elect.
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Idris Wada, and other smaller parties such as the Labour Party and the African Democratic Congress, ADC, also approached the tribunal asking it to remove Bello.
Before reserving judgment in April, the tribunal had …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
