Judgement Day: Gov Bello, Faleke know fate today on Kogi Governorship Polls

[contextly_auto_sidebar]

The judgment in the petition filed by James Faleke, the governorship running mate of the late Prince Abubakar Audu, challenging the election of Governor Yahaya Bello, will be decided today by the Kogi State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja.

The chairman of the tribunal, Justice Halima Mohammed, had on April 6 reserved her judgment after parties to the case had adopted their written addresses.

Notices for judgments between Tuesday and Thursday have also been served on parties in the other four pending petitions on the Kogi election.

Faleke, who was running mate to late Audu in the November 21, 2015, governorship election, challenged the nomination of Bello to stand as the candidate of the APC, after Audu’s death and the subsequent declaration of the election as inconclusive by the INEC.

In his argument, Faleke, through his lawyer, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), argued that Bello ought not to have been nominated or declared winner of the rerun election of December 6, 2015, because he was not a registered voter in Kogi State.

While maintaining that the choice of Bello was unconstitutional, he also contended that “it was the first time in the history of democracy that somebody will contest an election without a running mate.”

But counsels to Bello and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joseph Daudu (SAN), and Alex Izinyon (SAN), respectively, asked the tribunal to dismiss the petition for lack of jurisdiction.

They argued that the votes cast for Audu at the poll belonged to the party, APC.

They further argued that Faleke did not withdraw his nomination as a running mate in the December 5 governorship rerun election in the state.

Source: Daily Trust

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *