Audu’s Supporters Threaten APC Over Choice Of Successor

Late Abubakar Audu

A battle seems to be building up in Kogi state after supporters of the Audu's dynasty vowed to impeach any person chosen by the party as a successor to Audu other than his son Mohammed.

Abubakar Audu died on Sunday, November 22, while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was announcing the governorship election results.

The state executive of the party has therefore adopted Mohammed as a successor to his father Abubakar Audu, who died last weekend after leading with 41,000 votes in the Kogi election.

Todayng reports that the members of the Kogi state House of Assembly on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday, November 27, backed Mohammed Audu as the successor of his father.

As a show of defiance ,they also threatened to impeach any other person chosen by the APC as a successor to Audu other than his son.

Spokesman of the legislators, Alfa Momoh Rabiu representing Ankpa 2 constituency shortly after a meeting with the national leadership of the party maintained that they have collectively resolved that Mohammed Audu should replace his father as the candidate of the party for the December 5 supplementary election in the state.

However, the position of the law makers stands at variance with that of the party’s national leadership who have picked Yahaya Bello as the party’s new candidate for Kogi governorship supplementary poll.

The party’s decision to dump Mohammed Audu, was reached yesterday, November 27, after extensive consultations among big wigs of the party. Leaders of the party felt fielding Mohammed might truncate their chances in the coming election.

The party however retained Abiodun Faleke as the party’s deputy governorship candidate but it is not yet certain if Faleke would accept to be Bello’s running mate as some groups are pressuring him to reject the nomination.

On the other hand, Governor Idris Wada of Kogi state and his party – the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – have asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare Wada winner of the inconclusive governorship election held in the state last Saturday.

They made the request in a suit they filed before the court on Thursday, which has INEC, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) as 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants.