Kogi set for more political turmoil as Faleke refuses to be sworn-in as deputy governor

KOGI State looks set for further political turmoil after the deputy governor-elect Hon Abiodun Faleke said he would not make himself available for swearing in alongside Alhaji Yahaya Bello on January 27.

 

Last week, the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) declared Alhaji Yahaya Bello of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the Kogi State governor-elect after ascertaining that he won supplementary elections following the original polls. Prince Abubakar Audu, who was the APC's original flagbearer died of a stroke before Inec announced the winner and was replaced by Alhaji Bello.

 

However, Hon Faleke, who was Prince Audu's running mate and was selected to be Alhaji Bello's deputy has refused to accept the position. According to Hon Faleke, he is the bonafide governor-elect of Kogi State and he has gone to court seeking to get himself declared so.

 

Already, Hon Faleke has written to the national leadership of the party telling them that he will not work with Alhaji Bello. He added that the Audu/Faleke ticket remained intact and he has subsequently picked Prince Audu's son Mohammed as his running mate.

 

Hon Faleke said: “I will not disappoint Prince Abubakar Audu. I, James Abiodun Faleke, will not be there for the swearing in if we don’t finish the case before the January 27, 2016.

 

“Nobody consulted me before making me a deputy to Bello and Bello too did not consult me. I have made my position known to the party leadership on this and I am not ready to betray and disappoint Prince Abubakar Audu.”

 

He, however, exonerated President Muhammadu Buhari from the crisis, saying that he knows the president cannot be a party to injustice and the outright violation of the rule of law. Hon Faleke warned the leadership of the party against setting it on a path of destruction through impunity and injustice, saying that they should learn from what happened to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

While asking the people of Kogi State not to fight or castigate anybody over the development, Hon Faleke said that those who are fighting in 2015 for positions in 2019 were trying God. He warned members and supporters of the party against fighting or castigating anybody, saying that those behind the plot were only working to actualise God’s plan and the ultimate liberation of the state from the claws of poverty and underdevelopment.