James Faleke, the running mate to late candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in last Saturday’s governorship election in Kogi State, Abubakar Audu, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, of creating a “legal conundrum” in the state.
The former council boss in Lagos said the electoral umpire should declare him governor-elect following the death of his principal.
In a letter to the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu dated November 26, 2015, Faleke stressed that under Section 187 of the 1999 Constitution, he was duly elected as deputy governor of Kogi State.
According to him, “In law and logic, no new candidate can inherit or be a beneficiary of the votes already cast, counted and declared by INEC before that candidate was nominated and purportedly sponsored.”
He further said in the letter written by his counsel, Wole Olanipekun that, “Assuming without conceding that INEC is even right to order a supplementary election, the votes already cast, counted and declared on Saturday, 25th November 2015, were votes for the joint constitutional ticket of Prince Abubakar Audu and our client.
“Therefore, no new or ‘supplementary’ candidate can hijack, aggregate, appropriate or inherit the said votes.”
Faleke expressed sadness over the demise of Audu, but insisted that INEC had no right under the law to declare the election inconclusive.
INEC Creating Big Problem In Kogi—Faleke https://t.co/IJUEhbNSZu