The running mate to late Abubakar Audu, Hon. James Faleke, the candidate of the APC in Saturday’s governorship election in Kogi State, has to INEC, asking the commission to declare him the governor-elect of the state.The lawmaker representing Ikeja Federal Constituency of Lagos State in the House of Representatives, who expressed sadness over the death of Audu, opined that under Section 187 of the 1999 Constitution, he was duly elected as deputy governor of Kogi State.
“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,” Mr. Faleke wrote through his counsel, Wole Olanipekun. 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.”