Faleke Urges Tribunal To Declare Him Governor Of Kogi | WakaWaka Reporters
james faleke

Faleke Urges Tribunal To Declare Him Governor Of Kogi

The running mate to the late Prince Abubakar Audu in last year’s governorship election in Kogi State, Mr. James Abiodun Falake, has urged the Election Petition Tribunal to declare him governor.

He spoke on Monday in Abuja while being led in evidence by his counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN).

Faleke said: “I confirm to all the documents tendered this morning to be the ones I refer to in my petition.

“I will like to adopt the documents in my witness statement on oath and as my evidence in the petition.

“I want the tribunal to accept my petition and grant my reliefs as stated in Paragraph 27 of my witness statement on oath and declare me winner.”

When asked during cross-examination by the counsel to the first respondent, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), if he was still a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he said ‘yes.’

Faleke said: “I am not aware that the second respondent, Governor Yahaya Bello, is a member of the APC. All I know is that the second respondent campaigned and worked for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“I was also not an aspirant at the primary election, but one of the conditions Audu picked me as his running mate was because I am a member of the APC.”

He told the tribunal that he did not know any of the candidates who contested with the late Audu.

Faleke said: “I did not see the result of the primary election because I left the venue, but the next information I heard is that the late Audu won the primary and I was chosen as the running mate.”

He told the tribunal that the result of the election, which he said he co-won with Audu, was declared in each polling unit and each of the ward’s collation centre.

Faleke said the death of Audu had nothing to do with the inconclusiveness of the election and that they had won.

He said he knew they had won the November 21, 2015, governorship election and that was why he did not participate in the December 5 poll.