The deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the November 21, 2015 governorship election in Kogi state, James Falake, has been informed that he lacks the locus standi to file a petition challenging the election of the incumbent Governor Yahaya Bello.
The ruling was delivered on Monday, by the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja.
Faleke was the running mate to the APC’s original governorship candidate, the late Abubakar Audu.
Before his death, Audu’s election was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission after votes were counted.
The APC would subsequently substitute Audu for Yahaya, who contested and won the governorship election of December 2, 2015.
Faleke therefore filed a petition asking the tribunal to declare Bello’s selection as unlawful, arguing that the election was already conducted and concluded on November 21 before Audu’s death.
He asked the tribunal to declare him as the valid substitute of the late Audu, backing his argument with the fact that he had already emerged as the deputy governor-elect.
However, the Justice Halima Mohammed-led panel held that Faleke lacked the right to file the petition because he wasn’t the governorship candidate upon the conclusion of the election on December 6, 2015.
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