Kogi 2019: Will Yahaya Bello Carry The Day?

By Tony Ademiluyi

Before Nigerian independence, the youths played a vital role in wrestling political power from our erstwhile colonial masters. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe established the Zik Group of Newspapers with the West African Pilot as it’s foremost in the group in 1937 at the age of thirty-three after a three year stint in editing the African Morning Post in Accra, Ghana. It revolutionized the newspapering industry and was the most nationalistic while still maintaining a modest modicum of financial success in its three decades of existence.

*Gov Bello and aides took to the streets to celebrate
 Buhari's return from UK medical  trip

Chief Anthony Enahoro edited the Southern Nigerian Defender one of the newspapers in the Zik Group in 1944 at the age of twenty-one straight from the famous Kings College Lagos without any university education. He went on to move the motion for Nigeria’s independence in 1953 at the age of thirty. Chief Bola Ige became the organizing secretary of the defunct Action Group at the age of twenty-three. Ambassador Matthew Tawo Mbu became the minister for Labour at the age of twenty-three in 1954 before he went to the United Kingdom to study law. Mazi Mbonu Ojike spearheaded the cultural nationalism with his famous ‘boycott the boycottables’ in his early thirties after his educational sojourn in the United States and became the Deputy Mayor of Lagos long before he turned forty. The list is endless of youths who achieved a lot in pre-independence Nigeria.

Challenges Awaiting Kogi Governor-Elect, Bello

By A. S. M. Jimoh

The Kogi state gubernatorial election has come and gone, but the controversy that trailed it has refused to die. The whole scenario of the election has taught us important lessons. It has shown that power truly belongs to God, a cliché often use by our politician but never live by it. Secondly, our effort alone can never earn us our goal. We need a touch of the Divine.

*Yahaya Bello

While there are losses, angers, victories and jubilations, the man who smiles most is one young Alhaji Yahaya Bello, born approximately forty years ago. Following the death of Alhaji Audu Abubakar, him being the runner-up in the primary was picked by the party through constitutional provision to be Audu’s replacement. He is now the Governor-elect. If Allah wills, he will take the mantle of leadership of Kogi state on the 27th of January 2016.

Because of the triviality and complexity that surround Kogi politics, he will be navigating a very turbulent water. He will be faced by ethnic distrust and a comatose state with nothing to show in term of infrastructure and other indices of development. Nevertheless, if he has the mettle, he will sail through the troubled water to safety unscathed. For a man who deployed enormous resources to campaign, make promises, went to primary and finally winning the governorship, it is assumed that he has the vision to lead the state out of its current direction to an intensive care unit. But recent history has shown that many our politicians only invest in campaign, make promises, pretend a vision and when he/she wins, he/she turns out to be worse than a highway armed-robber and a pillaging army. Alhaji Yahaya Bello must show he is different.

APC: Always Snatching Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory!

By Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba

This party, APC, has this habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Every time.

1.   It won a clear victory during the presidential election with overwhelming support from all segments of Nigeria with the possible exception of SE/SS. World leaders praised the new APC president and saw a new and different Nigeria. His stock rose beyond the clouds.

*Tinubu and Buhari 

For four long months he could not form a government; made no speeches on the direction he would take the country to; was unable to present the legislature any supplementary budget; resorted to dictatorship by being a sole administrator; gave an unrealistic time frame for defeating Boko Haram (December 31, 2015), was unable to articulate his foreign policy as he addressed an empty United Nations Assembly; performed miserably in press conferences he had; demonstrated lack of knowledge as he could not tell which country is governed by Ms. Angela Merkel or what title she holds; showed that he was not aware that the Soviet Union no longer exists; etc. It was a complete failure each time he went abroad. The APC executive failed even before he started. They snatched defeat from the jaws of victory

2.   If the executive was struggling to find its footing, the legislature was seen flat on its face. They had no clue when the inaugural meeting of the legislature was scheduled and so all but a handful were present when the Senate and House was called to order; and not present as congressional elections were conducted and therefore left open to seasoned PDP to impose officers on the majority. Thus the Senate and House leadership became a 50/50 sharing of senior offices for APC and PDP. When they realized that the animals have been late out of the gate the party started playing immature games and bickering and making self-destructive moves. The legislature like the executive snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

3.   As if the failures of the Executive and the Legislature were not enough, the ineptitude has now carried over to Kogi State. The unfortunate death of Mr. Audu so close to the election called for a leadership that is quick on its feet, but the party was/is led by a giant with clay feet. A good leader could have quickly found a substitute gubernatorial candidate or tried to stop INEC from proceeding with the election. A court action could have bought them some time to find another candidate, but the brainless, inept APC sat on her hands and an election was conducted. But their candidate was dead and only the living can be elected.

Kogi: Faleke Rejects Nomination As Bello's Running Mate

Read Mr. James Abiodun Faleke's letter to the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun rejecting his nomination as Alhaji Yahaya Bello's running mate in the December 5 Supplementary Governorship election in Kogi State:  

“Re: My Purported Nomination As Deputy Governor”

“Information at my disposal from the National Secretary of our party, the All Progressives Congress, and my telephone conversation with your good self, confirmed to me that the party had issued INEC form and submitted my name as running mate to Alhaji Yahaya Bello in the forthcoming unusual and strange supplementary election scheduled for 5th December, 2015, covering 91 polling units in Kogi State to elect a “supplementary governor”.

“Mr. Chairman, you may recall that an election was conducted on the 21st November 2015, in which I was running mate to the late Prince Abubakar Audu: I therefore remain fully committed to that joint ticket which received the blessings of the party leadership, including your good self, evident from your attendance at the campaign rallies to ensure total victory for your great party through which the people of Kogi State massively and overwhelmingly voted for us.

Death, An Inconclusive Election And The Law (Part II)

By Kennedy Emetulu

 The first part of this piece was written immediately after the death of the APC candidate in the Kogi governorship election, Prince Abubakar Audu was first reported. In that piece, I expressed the view that despite the fact that there is seemingly no clear constitutional provision or provision in the Electoral Law 2010 to deal with a situation where a candidate dies during an election, INEC should do a purposive reading of sections 33 and 36(1) of the Electoral Act to provide a simple, fair, just and lawful resolution of the problem. Here is how I stated it: 

“…I think, even though it’s not a court of law, INEC should adopt a purposive approach to the interpretation of the statute, because that is likely how the court will view it if the matter comes before it. Should it take the matter to court for interpretation first before it continues with the election? That is a decision it should take in consultation with its legal officers, but if I were to advise them, I’d say no need, because the election is already on and the public policy argument must favour a quick and favourable conclusion, so as not to extend the tenure of the incumbent unduly, especially where he may likely not be the one ultimately elected. INEC must always act in the spirit of allowing the people to choose their Governor as at when due. It is the essence of choice in a democracy.

“A purposive reading of the Electoral Act will look at the provisions of Sections 33 and 36(1) and conclude that the mischief the Electoral Act is trying to cure with these provisions is to avoid a situation where death of a candidate frustrates the election. So, the oversight of not specifically considering what happens when a candidate dies during election should not take away the justice and fairness provided in the law for all situations where a candidate dies before or during the poll, especially where there is no material change in the situation between the time before the poll and during the poll when death occurred”.

How To Resolve The Kogi State Constitutional Conundrum

By Inibehe Effiong

The sudden death of Prince Abubakar Audu, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State, on Sunday, 22nd November, 2015 has undoubtedly ignited a constitutional crisis. The tragic news which was first published by SaharaReporters has instigated controversy on what will be the possible legal implications or consequences of his death. 

*Audu

Among the issues arising from the death of Prince Audu are the following:

1. Whether the running mate to Prince Audu and the APC deputy governorship candidate can assume the position and status of the deceased as the candidate of the APC;

2. If the question in 1 above is answered in the negative, can the APC substitute the deceased as its governorship candidate; and

3. Whether it is legally permissible in the circumstance for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel the inconclusive election of Saturday November  21st 2015 and conduct a fresh throughout Kogi State.

This is unarguably a novel case. This is the first time in the course of a democratic transition that a validly nominated candidate of a political party in Nigeria will die after an inconclusive election but before and without paricipating in the supplementary election. It is unprecedented. The result is that there is no precedent that can be referred to which could aid in the resolution of the present case.

Audu’s Death Created Strange And Novel Constitutional Scenario

By Festus Keyamo

The reported death on Sunday, November 22nd, 2015, of the APC candidate in the Kogi State Governorship elections, Prince Abubakar Audu, is extremely shocking and sad. I would like to express my condolences to the entire family of Audu and to the people of Kogi State. However, the real question agitating the minds of everybody is the legal implication regarding the inconclusive Governorship elections at the time of his demise.

 Late Prince Abubakar Audu
To state it correctly he was said to have died AFTER the announcement of the results by INEC and after INEC had declared the elections inconclusive. Admittedly, this is a strange and novel constitutional scenario. It has never happened in our constitutional history to the extent that when an election has been partially conducted (and not before or after the elections) a candidate dies. What then happens? This is a hybrid situation between what happened in the case of Atiku Abubakar/Boni Haruna in 1999 and the provision of section 33 of the Electoral Act, 2010.

In the case of Atiku Abubakar/Boni Haruna [which is now a clear constitutional provision of section 181(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended)] the Supreme Court held, in effect, that “if a person duly elected as Governor dies before taking and subscribing the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office, or is unable for any reason whatsoever to be sworn in, the person elected with him as Deputy governor shall be sworn in as Governor and he shall nominate a new Deputy-Governor who shall be appointed by the Governor with the approval of a simple majority of the house of Assembly of the State”.