Among members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State, there are worries that the party may be producing two candidates ahead of the November 21 governorship election if the issue on hand is not urgently resolved.
The fresh fears which started at the weekend is as a result of the report of the state Governorship Primary Election Appeal Panel, submitted to the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), which indicted the winner of the primary election held on August 29, former Governor, Prince Abubakar Audu, and called for his disqualification on a variety of allegations, bothering on corruption and violation of the provisions of the constitution of the party and the guidelines for the conduct of the primaries.
Other APC governorship aspirants in the last primaries had challenged Audu’s victory. The runners up, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, had written a strong petition over the conduct of the primaries.
The APC appeal panel, chaired by Dr. Sam Sam Jaja, with Mr. Ahmad El-Marzuq and Mr. Tunde Imolehin serving as secretary and member respectively, in an 11-page report, a copy which THISDAY obtained, expressly called for the nullification of the emergence of Audu as the candidate of the APC in the upcoming gubernatorial election in the state and name the petitioner, Bello, the aspirant who scored the second highest votes and who is constitutionally eligible, his replacement.
Drawing inference from the case of Hope Uzodinma vs Senator Osita Izunaso, where the court insisted that ‘a political party must obey its constitution, the panel also recommended that Bello’s name be immediately forwarded to INEC as the candidate of the APC in the November 21 gubernatorial election in the state.
Though feelers among party bigwigs in the state is that powerful forces in the party are working against the implementation of the report.
Bello had petitioned the APC appeal committee on the need to get Audu disqualified on the grounds that he (Audu) was not eligible to contest the APC primary election.
In the petition, Bello accused Audu of not resigning as a member of the BoT of the party, as stipulated in the constitution of the party in Article (I) iii which states that: “Any such party office holder or officer of the party who is interested in contesting for an elective position within or at a general election shall resign 30 days before the date of the nomination or party primary for that office he is contesting for.”
Bello had maintained that Audu did not resign his position as a BoT member before the election and that he voted for himself in the election.
His argument is that “By virtue of his membership of the BoT pursuant to Article 14 (III) (e) of the 2014 Guidelines for the Nomination of Candidates for Public Office, such party officers are not allowed to vote as statutory delegates.”
According to a source close to the panel members, “Part of the findings of the report was that there was video evidence showing Audu casting his vote at the primary election. The appeal committee had already recommended that Audu be disqualified while the runner up in the primary election (Yahaya Bello) be presented to INEC as the APC gubernatorial candidate for the state 2015 governorship election.”
It is however unclear if the APC leadership is ready to implement the recommendation of the appeal committee or not, but going by the recommendation of the panel, Bello is the validly elected candidate of APC in the state.
An implication of this development is that if the APC insists on fielding Audu and Bello is able to prove that the candidate did not actually resign his BoT membership, the court would declare him the validly nominated candidate of APC and thereby becomes the governor as in the case of Rotimi Amaechi vs Celestine Omehia.
Some members of the party are already suggesting that as the presidential election was shifted by six weeks, in the event of a standoff, the gubernatorial election may be shifted by a few weeks to allow the APC address the logjam occasioned by the disqualification of Audu by the appeal panel.
“In the event Audu is retained, Bello is not trusted to be willing to mobilise for him due to the loud cry for power shift by his people in Kogi Central. If Audu is substituted for Bello you, guess is as good as mine. That it has become clear to President Muhammadu Buhari and the party that the anti-corruption stance of the new government and its renewed commitment to rule of law will be jeopardized if it doesn’t do something about the candidacy of Audu.
“Yahaya Bello in his petition also raised the allegations of embezzlement of N11 billion and the court case involving the former governor instituted by the EFCC. Giving President Buhari’s staunch anti-corruption stance and APC change mantra of the APC, it is left to be seen if such a seminal report can be swept under the carpet.”
