I won’t be sworn in as dep. gov, Faleke insists

The crisis rocking the governorship election in Kogi State appears far over as the state’s deputy governor elect, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, yesterday insisted that he would not present himself for inauguration on the 27th of January 2016 alongside Alhaji Yahaya Bello.

Faleke was the deputy governorship candidate to late Abubakar Audu of the All Progressives Congress, who died while collation of results were ongoing before the election of Saturday November 21 was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Yahaya Bello replaced Audu on the APC ticket against the wishes of Faleke that he be declared governor elect.

Faleke, a serving member of the House of Representatives, stated this in Kabba, the headquarters of Kogi West senatorial district at a meeting of stakeholders from the zone.

According to him, his decision is in furtherance of his earlier letter to the national leadership of the party not to work with Mr. Bello, the governor-elect.

He was reacting to a resolution taken at the meeting that he should pursue the legal option to a logical conclusion, adding that the Audu/Faleke ticket remained intact and unchanged.

“I will not disappoint Prince Abubakar Audu. I, James Abiodun Faleke will not be there for the swearing in if we don’t finish the case before the January 27, 2016.

“Nobody consulted me before making me a deputy to Bello. Bello too did not consult me. I have made my position known to the party leadership on this. I am not ready to betray and disappoint Prince Abubakar Audu,” he said.

Faleke however exonerated President Mohammadu Buahri from the crisis, saying Mr. Buhari he knew ‘cannot be a party to injustice and outright violation of the rule of law’, warning the leadership of the APC against setting the party on a path of destruction through impunity and injustice. He counseled that they should learn from what happened to the Peoples Democratic Party.

According to him, the present struggle was a complex one and beyond him, saying it was about emancipation of the people and the future of the state.

Faleke, who urged the people not to fight or castigate anybody over the development, said those fighting in 2015 for positions in 2019 were trying God.

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“People are fighting for 2019 in 2015. Are they God? What is happening is beyond human imagination,” he said.

Warning members and supporters of the party against fighting or castigating anybody, Faleke said those behind the plot were only working to actualize God’s plan and the ultimate liberation of the state from the jaws of poverty and underdevelopment.

“I am a marathoner, no matter how bumpy and rough the road is, we shall get there, “ he said.

According to him, the constitutional crisis created by the sudden death of Mr. Audu, when finally resolved, will enrich the country’s democracy, thanking the Igalas for their support and resolve to defend the mandate with their blood and assured them that their efforts would not be in vain.

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