RUNNING
mate to late Prince Abubakar Audu in the November 21, 2015 governorship
election in Kogi State, Honourable James Faleke, on Monday, adopted his
written statement in the petition he filed before the State
Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, challenging
the declaration of Yahaya Bello as governor of Kogi State.
Led in evidence by his counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun, at the resumed hearing on Monday, Faleke told the tribunal that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ought to have declared him governor of the state, having contested and won the election with the late Audu on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He told the court that his party, APC, elected him and Audu, the governorship candidate in a primaries and sponsored their election, which was won, saying he premised his petition on the November 21 governorship election in the state, saying he did not participate in the December 5 election, because he won the earlier one in a keenly contested election.
He, therefore, asked the court to order INEC to declare him governor of Kogi State.
Faleke was the only witness of the petitioner and by the adoption of his witness’ statement and document tendered to prove the case of the petitioner, Faleke had closed his case and the Tribunal adjourned till today for INEC to open its defence in the petition.
Parties in the petition had already filed and exchanged their pre-hearing reports, having distilled all the issues they wanted the court to resolve, with a view to determining whether Governor Bello was validly elected to pilot the affairs of the state for the next four years.
The Halima Mohammed-led three man panel tribunal directed the parties to return on Monday to adopt the reports, so as to enable it to commence full-blown hearing on the substantive matter.
The panel had earlier adjourned the petition that was brought before it by the immediate past governor of the state, Captain Idris Wada (retd), who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the election.
The petitioners are praying the tribunal to invalidate the process that led to the emergence of Governor Bello as winner of the governorship election that took place in Kogi State, last year.
Specifically, Faleke went to the tribunal to challenge INEC’S refusal to declare him as the valid winner of the governorship election in the state.
He is, among others issues, praying the tribunal to declare that INEC acted wrongly when it declared the outcome of the November 21, 2015 governorship poll inconclusive.
Faleke, through his team of lawyers, led by Chief Wole Olanipekun, contended that the initial election had produced a winner in late Prince Audu, saying his death arrogated to him the status of governor-elect. Insisting that he had a joint ticket with late Audu, Faleke argued that INEC should not have declared the election inconclusive, since they had already secured enough votes to warrant the declaration of a winner on the basis of the total number of votes that was cast.
On his part, Wada went to the tribunal to protest what he termed “gross irregularities” during the polls.
He wants the tribunal to determine if Bello was qualified to be declared governor-elect even though he did not take part in all the electoral processes that led to the supplementary poll.
Wada maintained that INEC contravened the electoral law by accepting to allow the APC to replace the late Prince Audu with Bello.
The former governor, through his team of lawyers, led by Chief Chris Uche, claimed that his successor went into the supplementary poll without a valid running mate.
Led in evidence by his counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun, at the resumed hearing on Monday, Faleke told the tribunal that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ought to have declared him governor of the state, having contested and won the election with the late Audu on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He told the court that his party, APC, elected him and Audu, the governorship candidate in a primaries and sponsored their election, which was won, saying he premised his petition on the November 21 governorship election in the state, saying he did not participate in the December 5 election, because he won the earlier one in a keenly contested election.
He, therefore, asked the court to order INEC to declare him governor of Kogi State.
Faleke was the only witness of the petitioner and by the adoption of his witness’ statement and document tendered to prove the case of the petitioner, Faleke had closed his case and the Tribunal adjourned till today for INEC to open its defence in the petition.
Parties in the petition had already filed and exchanged their pre-hearing reports, having distilled all the issues they wanted the court to resolve, with a view to determining whether Governor Bello was validly elected to pilot the affairs of the state for the next four years.
The Halima Mohammed-led three man panel tribunal directed the parties to return on Monday to adopt the reports, so as to enable it to commence full-blown hearing on the substantive matter.
The panel had earlier adjourned the petition that was brought before it by the immediate past governor of the state, Captain Idris Wada (retd), who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the election.
The petitioners are praying the tribunal to invalidate the process that led to the emergence of Governor Bello as winner of the governorship election that took place in Kogi State, last year.
Specifically, Faleke went to the tribunal to challenge INEC’S refusal to declare him as the valid winner of the governorship election in the state.
He is, among others issues, praying the tribunal to declare that INEC acted wrongly when it declared the outcome of the November 21, 2015 governorship poll inconclusive.
Faleke, through his team of lawyers, led by Chief Wole Olanipekun, contended that the initial election had produced a winner in late Prince Audu, saying his death arrogated to him the status of governor-elect. Insisting that he had a joint ticket with late Audu, Faleke argued that INEC should not have declared the election inconclusive, since they had already secured enough votes to warrant the declaration of a winner on the basis of the total number of votes that was cast.
On his part, Wada went to the tribunal to protest what he termed “gross irregularities” during the polls.
He wants the tribunal to determine if Bello was qualified to be declared governor-elect even though he did not take part in all the electoral processes that led to the supplementary poll.
Wada maintained that INEC contravened the electoral law by accepting to allow the APC to replace the late Prince Audu with Bello.
The former governor, through his team of lawyers, led by Chief Chris Uche, claimed that his successor went into the supplementary poll without a valid running mate.
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