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Gov Bello floors Faleke, ex GovWada again at Appeal Court

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James Faleke has again failed to unseat Governor Yahaya Bello at the Appeal Court, having earlier failed to do so at the Kogi state Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.
This is as the Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Thursday sacked the appeal he filed challenging the emergence of Governor Bello, as winner of the Kogi state governorship election.
The Court also dismissed Captain Idris Wada’s case against Yahaya Bello’s election by four-to-one split decision.
Dismissing Faleke’s appeal, all the six issues he raised were resolved against him by a five-man panel of the Court of Appeal.
The presiding Justice of the panel, Justice Jumai Hannatu, in his leading judgement, held that the tribunal was right to have dismissed Faleke’s petition. 
It added that, contrary to Faleke’s petition, he could not by virtue of sections 181(1) and 179(2) step in as the governorship candidate of the APC following the death of Abubakar Audu.
The Court of Appeal also ruled that Faleke could not have been declared winner of the poll on the strength of the votes by his and the late Audu’s joint ticket in the November 21 polled.
Though the court held that contrary to the tribunal’s conclusion, Faleke had the locus standi to challenge the outcome of the election having contested the November 21 on a joint ticket with Audu, it held that he (Faleke) lacked the right to question the substitution of the governorship candidate done by the party.
Faleke was the running mate of the late Kogi state governorship candidate, Abubakar Audu, in the last year’s governorship election but was substituted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) with Bello as the party’s governorship candidate, retaining Faleke as deputy, after Audu died during the November 21 election.
The election was later declared inconclusive by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), due to irregularities in some areas and a supplementary election was fixed for December 6, 2015.
On conclusion of the supplementary election in 91 polling units, INEC declared APC and consequently, Bello as the winner of the election.
Faleke first challenged his substitution when he would have naturally stepped in as the governorship candidate, at the Kogi state Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, when the tribunal affirmed Bello as the dully elected governor, he appealed to Appeal Court and lost again.
By Ebere Ndukwu …

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