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Kogi: The inside forces against Faleke

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In from Olumide Olaoluwa . . .
It was so close yet very far. Hon. James Faleke was just a few inches away from becoming the Governor-elect of Kogi State. Had the November 21 election not been declared inconclusive, he would have automatically inherited the governorship slot from the late Prince Audu Abubakar, who was the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate.
He died few hours before the election was declared inconclusive despite leading with over 21,000 votes. His death appeared to be a blessing in disguise for Faleke. But it may well turn out to be the death of his ambition of being at the Government House.

The APC decided against fielding him at the December 6 supplementary election in favour of Yahaya Bello, who had earlier defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after emerging runner-up at the primary. Bello was later declared winner of the supplementary election and governor-elect of Kogi State.

Faleke has since taken his case to the election tribunal, arguing that he should have been made the governorship candidate since he was running mate to the late Abubakar. Sources close to his camp say he is determined to drag the case as far as to the Supreme Court to get justice.

Investigations revealed that hawks within the APC campaigned against upgrading Faleke as the governorship candidate mainly because he is considered an outsider to Kogi politics. Faleke is the current House of Representatives member for Ikeja constituency. Before then, he was a two-term chairman of Ojudu Local Government in Lagos.

“We felt making him our candidate will mean someone unknown in the local terrain will govern Kogi State. Some entrenched party leaders could kick against it and make the government unsuccessful,” a member of the National Working Committee of the party, who spoke under strict anonymity, told Ripples Nigeria.

It was also learnt that some party chieftains in the state felt Faleke’s connection with the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, might also work against their interest.

“Tinubu is a force to reckon with and some threatened chieftains felt the governor will not do their bidding with such an element behind him in the Government House,” the source added.

By the original arrangement, Abubakar was supposed to mentor Faleke for four years and hand over power to him, a move that would have smoothly handled the power shift agitation by Kogi West, especially the Yoruba-speaking part of the state. But the unexpected death of Abubakar foiled the arrangement.

To have chosen Faleke to carry the governorship slot would have meant the early realisation of the power agitation by Kogi-West, a development the major ethnic blocks in the state were not comfortable with. Many of them felt the arrangement was becoming a reality too soon and should remain an agitation, at least for another four years.

Even within Kogi West, Faleke didn’t enjoy the support of many party stalwarts. For example, Senator Dino Melaye, who represents the constituency, is believed not to be disposed to the idea of a ‘foreigner’ like Faleke benefitting from the power shift agenda. His camp is said to have argued that Faleke was never part of the agitation and should never reap from it.

Melaye is said to be comfortable with remaining the major politician from the senatorial district while oiling his machinery for a possible shot at the governorship in 2019 on the strength of power shift.

Other leaders in the senatorial zone also frowned at the prospect of Faleke getting the governorship slot. While they could live with him serving as deputy governor, to have him preside over the state would mean many of them will have to bury their political ambitions for another eight years in the name of zonal arrangement.

But it is from Abuja that the biggest opposition to his candidature came. Faleke is an unknown commodity to the party top echelon. He only got the running mate slot on the strength of a strong recommendation from Abubakar who was said to have insisted that he is the only man he could work with.

Many of the NWC members gave in because of Abubakar’s long standing relationship with them. With him out of the scene, they moved against Faleke allegedly declaring that over their dead bodies will such an element govern the state.

Read also: Kogi: Faleke may be replaced if … – Odigie-Oyegun

Faleke, on his part, it was gathered reached out to many of them. But they stood their grounds, insisting, that to have a minority candidate like him might spell doom at the supplementary election. It was further learnt that many of them were not comfortable with Bello either but considered him a “lesser evil”.

Though they admitted he was involved in anti-party activities during the inconclusive election, they said only Bello contested the primary, a major factor that they said the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) will consider when deciding on the suitability of candidates for the poll.

“To have a candidate who never went through the primary would have been unthinkable. It was the safest option open to us and we had to take it,” the source stressed.
Bello, they admitted, might turn out not to be a loyal governor to the party but he could be worked on especially with the APC at the helms of power at the federal level, than have a Faleke who might be sacked like former Rivers State Governor, Sir Celestine Omehia.

Faleke, who has vowed not to be sworn in as deputy to Bello, has since returned to his House of Representatives seat while hoping he gets a judicial pronouncement in his favour. He is said to have turned down the offer to be Bello’s deputy because he fears he could be victimized, or even impeached when the governor assumes office.
His camp feels he is better off back in Abuja as a House of Representatives member than go through the ignominy of impeachment or victimisation. He was so close yet far away. But he lives to fight another day.

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