A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) top shot
in Kogi state, Faruk Adeja, believes there are
more to the death of Prince Abubakar Audu,
the candidate of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) in the Kogi election that the
Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) declared inconclusive on Sunday
November 22.
Adeja, who is from same ethnic group with
Audu wants the Nigerian security agents to
investigate the incident and the alleged
complicity of the APC.
He speaks o this and more with our
correspondent.
Excerpts:
Q: What is the situation right now in Kogi
state with the death of the APC candidate,
Abubakar Audu?
I will be a little bit circumspect in describing
the late Prince Abubakar Audu.
I’m a member of the PDP; we didn’t even
consider that election satisfactory in the first
place, but because somebody has died now,
we should begin to leave details about out
objections to that right now so that it would
not appear that we are attacking a dead
man, but I can assure you that the election
was neither free nor fair.
It was completely militarized. They said they
were bringing 16,000 policemen. To come
and do what? How many do you have in
Yobe? If you go and check right now, most of
those 91 polling units they are talking about Faruk Adeja
Where they know we are likely to win, their
thugs would come, backed by police. In my
own ward, there was a place some people
went to thumbprint ballot papers and were
going to dump in the ballot box.
are PDP strongholds.
And the councillor from my ward objected.
But before you know, the APC guy called the
police led by one Akindele Rafiu, I think an
Assistant Commissioner of Police, and he
was there in minutes. They sent the guy
away from there and the people succeeded in
dumping the ballot papers there.
In these days of social media and
technological advancement, this allegation
from you is just coming for the first time.
How come?
Before we could start screaming…you could
remember that even the governor did say he
had problems with the election. He was
quoted as saying the reports he was getting
were alarming.
Who would get reports without screaming? It
happened as the voting was going on. In my
ward, there were three detachments of
policemen were stationed there. It is a rural
place; it is possible someone captured but I
am not aware of that. Let’s look at the other
issues that are garmaine.
What issues do you think are garmaine?
The death of the APC candidate before the
declaration of result. It was a very curious
death and it is so surprising and shocking
that nobody is asking any questions.
One of the criteria for election is good health.
Abubakar Audu is not known to be a sick
man. Nobody has ever said this man was
admitted. Then on the day he won election or
was supposed to have won election, the man
dropped dead.
I’ll tell you something. Information available
to us was that this man died at
about 4.30am. The APC kept the information
and was waiting for INEC to declare the
result so that (Abiodun) Faleke would benefit
from the election. Why did that happen?
You know as a Muslim, the moment you die,
you are buried and nobody investigates. That
death was very curious. Why were they
hiding the information? And they were
shameless to come and tell Nigerians that
the man died by 3pm.
You are a member of the PDP and it is
surprising how Audu’s death is a burden to
you.
Why it is a problem to me is that first, he
was the first executive governor of my state.
Then even in my place, Abubakar Audu is
almost like a deity. I’m a local government
chairman.
He was a member of my ethnic group.
Politics aside, I was online to even apologise
for my attacks on him after he died. This
man died so cheaply and curiously and
nobody talks about his death? While we were
waiting to mourn, the next thing was that
they started activating a plan that Faleke
should come and take his votes.
Talking about activating a plan, don’t you
think it is the right of the APC since INEC
granted the party the opportunity to
substitute?
We agree that all aspects of human existence
are governed by law. I met with two lawyers
who have taken a position on this issue. It is
an election and like I said, Abubakar Audu
died around 4.30am and I challenge them to
deny that.
They were waitinf for the result to be
announced. After the election was declared
inconclusive, they now admitted that he had
died. That’s my feeling and the feeling of so
many people.
Now, somebody obtained votes, then you are
saying the votes should be transferred;
another person should succeed Audu.
The law talks about two cases where you can
substitute-either withdrawal or death. So if
Abubakar Audu had decided to withdraw at
this point, would you say another person
should come and collect the votes?
It is like you admit that Audu won the
election judging by an earlier comment you
made.
Maybe it was a slip of tongue, but the truth
of the matter is that he had more votes than
us, we can’t take that away.
He had 41,000 votes more than us. If
Abubakar Audu were alive and declared
winner, without prejudice to the election, I’m
almost certain that the Captain Wada I know
would call him to congratulate him.
You cannot deny the fact that he had 41,000
votes above the PDP. In fact, it is in black
and white. What we are saying is; can
somebody obtain votes and now call on
another person to come and obtain the votes
or inherit it?
Even the Sections (of the constitution) they
are talking about, except you participate in
every process of the election-you were
nominated, you went for primaries, you
receive votes-you cannot come and take the
votes of another person.
The APC says it is conducting fresh
primaries, but from what you have said now,
is there an information that the party is
gunning for Faleke?
Don’t make it look like I have a problem with
Faleke. The problem I have is first, the very
curious death of Abubakar Audu. Secondly,
the manner the APC has gone about it. Look
at the Attorney-General.
If you watched him when he was talking, you
would see the partisan passion and emotion
with which the Attorney-General of the
Federation was talking about something that
is supposed to affect all parties. And
minutes after, INEC announced the same
thing.
What are we talking about? Before this
election, we screamed. The president called a
meeting of INEC and security forces on the
Kogi election. The president is not supposed
to summon INEC to give them instruction on
how to conduct elections. INEC is an
independent body.
Now that the Attorney-General again has
gone to talk and INEC has automatically
bought into what he has said, then what kind
of independence are you talking about?
Let’s know what you mean with the curiosity
of Abubakar Audu’s death.
Like I told you, if you are going to contest
election, your health should be an issue. If
we were aware, and we are not, that
Abubakar Audu was a sick, it would be an
issue.
We would have acted on it, but he wasn’t a
sick man. We agree that you can have
cardiac arrest and things like that, but why
hide it? And why would you come and tell the
world that he died by 3pm when he didn’t die
by 3pm? Our conclusion about the election is
very simple.
The law makes it clear that you cannot run
for such election without a running mate. But
the moment that ticket is ruptured, like it is
in this case, it is not an emitional thing
anymore.
What should INEC have done in this case?
Declare the person with the next highest
votes winner of the election. It is as simple
as that.
And this is the PDP.
Yes. As it is now, APC does not have a
candidate. Those votes are Audu’s votes. If
Audu was not on the ticket, Faleke would not
have had those votes. Let’s tell ourselves the
truth. Section 141 has remedied what the
lawyers call Amaechi mischief.
The Supreme Court, possible angry at the
government of the time, said: “okay, you just
wanted to prevent this man from becoming
governor at all cost.” So it made Amaechi a
governor. The fact of the matter is that even
Amaechi did not even ask for that.
But the National Assembly, in response,
amended the Electoral Act to state that until
you must participate in every stage of an
election, you cannot be declared winner. So
this idea of votes belonging to a party has
already been overtaken by the amendment.
The votes do not belong to the party, they
belong to the individual completely. The APC
does not hold any vote.
You are a member of the PDP, but with the
way you speak of Audu’s death makes one
think of ethnicity.
Nigerians tend to stoke ethnicity most of the
time. We have stated the fact that his death
was curious. And we challenge the Nigerian
police and other security forces to investigate
how he died and how come nobody told us
how he died. When Gani Fawehinmi died, a
lot of Nigerians cried. When Abiola died, I
was a reporter.
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