The Publicity Secretary of the party in Kogi, Bode Ogunmola, said in Lokoja that the results of the election was unacceptable to the party and cannot stand the test of time.

He said the death of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abubakar Audu on Nov. 22, while collation was ongoing had made it inevitable for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare PDP candidate, Idris Wada, winner of the poll.

Ogunmola said PDP had rejected the declaration of Yahaya Bello as winner of the exercise, saying that the party would challenge the results before the tribunal.

He commended people of the state for their support to the party before and during the poll, urging them to continue to be law abiding.

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The court, in a judgement Friday, declined jurisdiction to resolve any of the constitutional issues that were raised in five separate suits challenging the legality of the planned run-off poll.

Justice Gabriel Kolawole ‎who gave the verdict, maintained that going by section 285(1) of the 1999 constitution, as amended, and section 87(10) of the Electoral Act, the Federal High Court, lacked the jurisdiction to grant reliefs that were sought before it by all the plaintiffs.

Noting that the suits were fallout of the governorship election INEC held in Kogi State on November 21, Justice Kolawole, directed the plaintiffs to go and ventilate their grievances before the Election Petition Tribunal.

Whereas one of the suits was lodged before the court by Kogi state governor, C‎aptain Idris Wada, retd, ‎the second suit was filed by ‎the governorship candidate of the People for Democratic Change, PDC, in the state, Hon. Emmanuel Daikwo.

Likewise, a legal practitioner, Johnson Usman, a House of Reps member for Ahiazu Ezinaehitte Mbaise Federal Constituency of Imo state, ‎Hon. Rafael Igbokwe and an electorate from Omala LGA in Abelijukolo Ife of Eche ward in Kogi state, Mr. Stephen Wada Omaye, filed the two remaining suits‎

Shortly after he dismissed the four consolidated suits, Justice Kolawole, in a separate judgment, also declined ‎to declare the Deputy Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Kogi state, James Faleke, as the governor-elect.

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Bello replaces Prince Abubakar Audu, who died last weekend after leading the poll with 41,000.

It was also learnt that the APC has retained Hon. James Abiodun Faleke as the party’s deputy governorship candidate.

Mohammed Audu, the son of the late governorship candidate, was dumped by the party because the party felt that fielding him might vitiate the entire governorship poll in the state.

But the people of Kogi West were mounting pressure on Faleke not to accept the nomination of Bello.

Although they asked Faleke to withdraw from the race, the deputy governorship candidate was yet to make up his mind on the next step at press time.

Investigation revealed that APC leaders, with the backing of some forces in the Presidency, opted for Bello because he came second in the party’s primaries behind Audu.

It was also gathered that the APC leaders felt there was no way Mohammed Audu could be fielded as a compromise candidate since he was not a candidate in the primaries.

“Our leaders met and after consultations reached a conclusion on the choice of Yahaya Bello from Kogi Central as the party’s governorship candidate to substitute the late Prince Abubakar Audu.

“The leaders arrived at the conclusion because Bello was second to Audu at the validly conducted governorship primaries of the party. Instead of running into crisis with fresh primaries, the party opted to dust up the result of the previous one which was witnessed by INEC.

“A letter, signed by the National Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, on the choice of Bello has been submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday,” a top party source said on Friday.

“Our leaders bought into the idea that Faleke is strange to the politics of the state, having had most of his political career in Lagos. They felt it is better for him to learn the ropes in the state before becoming a governor.

“They also argued that the choice of Bello will ensure power shift in the state and since the Ebiras were behind Audu, it won’t be difficult to foster understanding between Kogi East and Kogi Central Senatorial Districts.

“Do not forget that Kogi East had already produced the minister from the state.

“Another important factor is that some of the 91 polling units where elections were cancelled are in Kogi Central, and it will be easier to mobilize the electorate in the district to get the required votes to defeat the PDP candidate, Governor Idris Wada.

“There was also some conspiracy behind the refusal of the ticket for Faleke. Some presidency forces stamped their feet that he must not be allowed to step into Audu’s shoes because of internal power struggles in APC.

“I won’t give you names but the forced were more powerful than Oyegun and other NWC members.”

On the dumping of Mohammed Audu, the source said: “Our leaders were guided by Section 141 of the Electoral Act. If we choose him, the entire election will be voided.

“The section says: ‘An election tribunal or court shall not under any circumstance declare any person a winner at an election in which such a person has not fully participated in all the stages of such election.

“We love the Audus but we cannot take such a big risk. If Wada and PDP go to court, they will win against Mohammed Audu.”

As press time, there was pressure on Faleke by the people of Kogi West to opt out of the race.

A different source said: “There are many options open to Faleke but the people of Kogi West want him to withdraw from the race. If Yahaya Bello gets the ticket, he might be reduced to a dummy deputy governor.

“Unless Faleke can fight his cause in court and claim his mandate, he will be frustrated as a deputy governor. If he quits, the party will have justification for bringing Mohammed Audu and Kogi West will be politically alienated.”

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This is contained in a statement issued in Lokoja and signed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs, James Adedoyin in Lokoja.

The statement cited section 20 sub section ( 1) and section 36 sub section 1 (d) of Kogi State Local Government Law 2000 as amended to back the action.

It explained that the sacked chairmen can no longer remain in office having decamped from the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) that sponsored them.

Some of the affected council chairmen include that of Lokoja, Ogori-Magongo, Idah, Adavi, Ankpa, Okehi, Bassa, Yagba East, Yagba West and Okene among others.

They defected to the APC during the grand finale of its governorship campaign held in Lokoja on Nov. 18.

The statement warned the sacked council chairmen to stay away from offices, directing the vice chairmen or the council leaders to take over the affairs of the affected councils as may be appropriate.

The governor said the handing and taking over should be completed by Wednesday Nov. 25, the statement said.

One of the grounds for their defection was the refusal of Wada to implement a decision of the Court of Appeal in Abuja on Oct 29 that nullified the removal of the elected chairmen from office.

They were removed from office based on the order of a Kogi State High Court sitting in Koton Karfe which ruled that the election of May 4, 2013 which brought them into office was faulty.

Relying on the judgment, Kogi State Government asked the chairmen and councillors to vacate office but the affected officials approached the Appeal Court which set aside the ruling and declared that they resume immediately.

Kogi state government refused to give effect to the ruling until Nov. 23.

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Fehinti Dada the Director-General of the organisation and former chairman of Ijumu Local Government Council, led the group of the defectors in an elaborate ceremony held on Monday in Iyara, headquarters of the council.

Receiving the defectors, the APC standard bearer, Prince Abubakar Audu, commended their courage, saying that the wind of change pervading the country had finally come to Kogi.

He urged them to bring their wealth of experience to bear on the party to enable it shine at Saturday’s poll.

Dada said that he and the other members of the organisation defected from the PDP because the party had failed the people.

He said that a survey conducted by the organisation showed that the PDP led administration in the state had collapsed activities at the third tier of government and placed council staff on percentage pay.

“I was in Ikole local government area of Ekiti last week. To my surprise, the council did not owe workers and recorded lot of achievements that had direct impact on the people, despite receiving less allocation in comparison to most councils in Kogi,” he said.

Dada assured Audu that the defectors would work with the existing party structure on ground and deliver the council to the APC.

In a related development, Duro Meseko former member of the House of Representatives, who represented Kabba/Bunu Federal Constituency in 2003 to 2007, also dumped the PDP for APC with thousand of his supporters at Iluke in Kaba/Bunu constituency.

Meseko said that he and his supporters could not afford to be left out in the wind of change blowing across the country and implored the people of Bunu to come out en-masse and vote for APC on Saturday.

Sen. Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West Senatorial District at the Senate advised the defectors to join hands with older members of the party to defeat the PDP administration in the state.

He said that Audu remained the best of all the candidates jostling to rule the state because of his wealth of experience in statecraft and verifiable achievements that had continued to affect lives positively across the state.

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Buhari spoke at a meeting with the INEC leadership and others, according to Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media Mallam Garba Shehu.

To him, it is “mischievous” for the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) to read meanings into a well-intended meeting.

In a statement, Shehu said: “The President called the meeting cited by the PDP to warn, in particular, the INEC and the police to do prepare and give the nation a credible election. He said he expected nothing short of a free, fair and credible election.

“He said he had suffered election manipulation in 2003,2007 and 2011 and would not like to have any Nigerian to go through that again.

“He warned against the intimidation of voters in any way and vowed that he was prepared to move with all the forces available to him against anyone who undermines the rights of any citizen.

“The meeting was short and straight to the point. It ended after five minutes. He asked Vice President Yemi Osinbajo if he had anything to say and he added nothing.”

The Presidency cautioned against what it called PDP’s recurring tendencies to destroy national institutions.

It added: “Nigerians should be wary of the PDP’s fruitless attempts to destroy national institutions President Buhari is determined to rebuild.

“They started with the courts, the EFCC, then the police and now they are on the one-week old INEC. When will PDP allow our national institutions to do their job?”

The PDP alleged a plot by the APC -led Federal Government to rig the Kogi poll.

The party said the Presidency, INEC and the security agencies were involved in the “plot”.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party said the plot was to employ official and unofficial means necessary to ensure victory for the APC.

The statement said: meetings, late last week between the Presidency and the new INEC leadership as well as with some top security officers, which were coordinated by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, who boasted that he has President Muhammadu Buhari’s orders to ensure that Kogi State is wrestled from the PDP by all means.

“We alert all to be aware of this planned ‘coup’ against democracy again, by the now ‘new sherrif’, who though, being the biggest beneficiary of free and fair election in the history of Nigeria, is now out to corrupt the electoral system and destroy our democracy, all in the obsession to foist a one-party state in the country.

“Intelligence information available to us shows that at the meeting with the new INEC leadership under Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the commission was given orders regarding the posting of compromised personnel to strategic areas in the state to manipulate the card readers as well as the actual voting process in favour of the APC, with assurance of adequate protection by government security agencies, particularly the Directorate of State Services (DSS).

“We are aware that in another meeting also held in Abuja, the Presidency directed summoned security officials to ensure that the forces are maximally used to intimidate the people with a view to pave way for compromised INEC officials to manipulate the process, alter ballot figures and announce doctored results.

“To kick off the rigging process and underscore the desperation to take over Kogi State, the President himself is billed to be in the state on Wednesday to endorse the APC candidate, Alhaji Audu Abubakar, a man facing charges of corruption.

“It is, to say the least, an embarrassing miscarriage of justice that the same President who rode to power on much publicized anti-corruption credentials, would not only superintend over plots to corrupt the electoral process, but also endorse a man facing corruption charges as his governorship candidate.

“Whereas majority of Nigerians have seen through the cosmetic anti-corruption stance of the President Buhari-led APC government, the PDP wishes to state in the strongest possible terms that the people of Kogi State love their Governor and are fully in support of his re-election bid.

“We therefore caution the President and the APC to watch their steps as their plots have not only been exposed, but will also be stiffly resisted by the people.

“In this regard, the new INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, must note that his legacy is at stake and that the Kogi election is for him an iron test. Prof. Yakubu must immediately distance himself and the commission from this planned ‘coup’ against democracy or be ready to hold himself responsible should there be any breakdown of law and order in the state during and after the elections.

“Let it be known to President Buhari, the APC, INEC and security forces that no amount of force, intimidation and manipulation can bend the will of the people of Kogi State in their preference for the PDP and Governor Idris Wada, and that they will not accept any results that do not reflect their wishes and aspirations at the poll.

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The directive is contained in a statement issued by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), in Lokoja on Saturday.

The statement, signed by the State Secretary of the NLC, John Faniyi, and his TUC counterpart, Joseph Kolawole, expressed dissatisfaction with the non-release of the N50.8 billion bailout fund due to the state.

“This directive is to serve as protest against the non-release of the money.”

In the statement, the unions said they were surprised over the silence by the CBN/the Federal Government.

While asking workers to fully comply with the order, the labour unions warned commissioners, permanent secretaries, directors and other categories of senior public offices not to report for work to avoid embarrassment.

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According to a statement issued by Jacob Edi, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, in Lokoja, the cabinet was dissolved shortly after the weekly executive council meeting.

The statement quoted Wada as thanking the 16 commissioners for their services to the government and people of the state since 2012 when they were appointed.

It directed the commissioners to hand over all government property in their care to their permanent secretaries and advised them to be prepared to render further services anytime they were called upon to do so.

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