Kogi Governorship Election: Faleke Heads To Court, Asked To Be Declared Winner

The refusal of the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s, erstwhile deputy governorship candidate in the last election in Kogi State, Mr. James Faleke, to be the running mate to the new candidate, Yahaya Bello, in this weekend’s governorship supplementary election takes a new turn as Faleke has approached the high court, demanding that he should be declared the governor-elect.

Faleke, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/977/2015, which he filed through a consortium of lawyers led by Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN and Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, insisted that contrary to the claim by the electoral body, the Kogi State governorship election was conclusive.

He is seeking 16 principal reliefs from the court, among which include, “A declaration that by the express provisions of sections 179 (2) (a) and (b) and 187(1) of the constitution, a person who is nominated as an associate of a candidate for the office of governor of a state is duly elected deputy governor of a state when the candidate for the office of the governor scores the highest number of votes at the election and also scored not less than one quarter of all the votes cast in each of at least two-third of all the local government areas in the state.

“A declaration that by the combined reading of sections 179 (2)(a) and (b) and 181(1) of the constitution, upon the death of a person duly elected as the governor of a state, the person elected with him as deputy-governor is to be sworn in as the governor of the state.”

Faleke also urged the court to declare that the results declared by INEC following the November 21 governorship election in Kogi State, produced a governor-elect of the state in accordance with the express provisions of section 179(2)(a) and (b) of the constitution.

He argued that the results INEC declared after the election clearly produced him as the Deputy-Governor elect of Kogi State.