Audu Abubakar and the conspiracy theories

The sudden demise of the Kogi State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Prince Abubakar Audu, has thrown up not just a constitutional crisis but also various conspiracy theories about his death, the possible causes and political permutations on the constitutional logjam.
The inconclusiveness theory
The state and indeed the entire nation was thrown into mourning immediately news of Audu’s demise became public knowledge. Though he was said to have been dead since about 5 am in the morning, his death was concealed from the public until it became clear that he was in comfortable lead after all the results from the 21 local government areas of the state were declared.
According to findings, the news of Audu’s death was already known to officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) while collating results from the various local government areas of the state, fuelling speculations that the electoral body came up with their verdict of ‘inconclusive elelction’ so as not to give Audu’s running mate an easy passage to Lugard House, as the Kogi State Government House is called.
Those who are propounding this theory point to the fact that out of the 49,000 registered at the 91 polling units where the election was canceled, only about 25,000 have their permanent voters cards. If this is true, it now means that the electoral body erred, as the 25,000 figure is far less than the 41,000 figure difference between the APC candidate and his PDP candidate counterpart, Captain Idris Wada.
They also argue, that not every one of the voters may have come out to vote, and if they did, there is no guarantee that every single one of them would vote for one candidate alone. Meaning; the polls from those polling units may not have made any difference to the final results.
The poison theory
Initial reports on the death of Prince Abubakar Audu said he died of cardiac arrest immediately he heard of the verdict of INEC. But it later emerged that he actually died early Sunday morning at about 5 am. Speaking on the death, a relative of the deceased said he may have actually been poisoned, and that the culprit may be in-house, from the late politician’s political party.
The poison theorists also alleged that Audu was only used, because of his immense popularity and acceptability in the state to win the election. According to them, Audu was never intended to rule the state but only used to win election and then discarded.
The theorists insist that he was poisoned ahead so that when the results are announced, he will only enjoy the euphoria briefly and then die.
Though no independent or official confirmation has been made, concerning the actual cause of death, many residents of the state, especially those of the Eastern zone are insisting this was what happened.

Read also: Analysis… Audu’s death and the constitutional logjam

Rumoured resurrection
One of the highlights of Monday’s burial of the former governor was his rumoured resurrection before his burial.
The state capital, Lokoja, was thrown into wild celebration on Monday as news filtered into town that Audu had woken up from the dead, and was back to life.
Ripples observed that scores of motorcyclists took to the streets of Lokoja celebrating, brandishing brooms and posters bearing the photograph of Audu. Also in the various markets in the town, people gathered in groups discussing the rumoured resurrection while others engaged in wild jubilation. However, when at about 2 pm news came to town that he had been finally buried, gloom took over once again.
The story of his resurrection was said to have emerged after a group of prophets came into the expansive country home of Prince Audu, with a promise to revive him back to life. One of them even staked his life while assuring the mammoth crowd that gathered for the burial of the possibility of Audu coming back to life.

At this stage, the grave diggers were said to have temporarily stopped work on the site where he was to be buried. This was what sparked the rumour that Audu had resurrected back to life.
Be that as it may, the theories and rumours of how or what killed him have been buried with him, and the nation may never know for sure what transpired, as it continues to debate what political solution should be adopted to solve the logjam that has arisen as a result of his passing.
#Whatdoyouthink: Drop a comment. How do you think the logjam should be handled?

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