Following the burial of the former governor of Kogi state, Abubakar Audu, members of the All Progressives Party (APC) decided to write to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as a result of a meeting held in the early hours of this morning. Their letter demands that the gubernatorial election which held last Saturday and was deemed inconclusive, be awarded in favour of the APC.
Confirming this, the treasurer of the Kogi state APC, Hon. Adesayo Ismail, told Ventures Africa, that INEC’s Returning Officer erred in declaring the election inconclusive. According to him, “We have sent our petition to INEC because we won the election in a landslide victory. It is a part of INEC guidelines that anyone without a permanent voters card cannot vote, as at the time the elections held, the number of eligible voters in the 91 polling units were just 25,000, assuming they all voted for the PDP, it still does not meet up with the over 41,000 voter gap which already exists in favor of the APC. INEC has been given a petition from us to do the needful by declaring the APC, winner of the gubernatorial election, held last Saturday.”
Hon. Ismail also addressed some major issues, following from the death and burial of the “Father of Kogi state”, Audu Abubakar as well as the supposed rumors of a ‘murder’ and lessons learnt by the party from this unfortunate incident.
APC’s reaction to the death
The party never expected the death, it was all so sudden, he says. “Audu has been with us since the formation of the APC in 2013. He was our state leader and also part of the national leaders of the party. Due to his contributions and dedication, it was no surprise he emerged the gubernatorial candidate for the APC. Audu was healthy to the best of our knowledge and the APC is now trying its hardest to face the reality of the situation however shocking and unexpected.”
The burial and supposed resurrection
Hon. Ismail confirmed that he was present at the burial which took place in Ogbonicha, Adah, Kogi state. “Party members in the state were well represented at the burial, also, members of the National Working Committee (NWC), APC, were present at the burial. The NWC was led by our National Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun in addition to about 35 APC EXCOs from the state.” He however disregarded claims of an attempted resurrection at the burial site which made the rounds on social media yesterday. Addressing the subject of a murder as claimed by several people on social media, he said Audu died a natural death. “The APC believes it was Audu’s time to be called by God, we do not believe he was murdered, we take solace in the fact that he died a hero.”
