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APC Says Fresh Primary To Be Conducted In Kogi

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has announced that a fresh primary election will be conducted in Kogi State to pick a replacement for late Abubakar … Continue reading APC Says Fresh Primary To Be Conducted In Kogi


Kaduna APC Adopts Indirect Primaries For 2019 Elections
A logo of the APC.

APCThe All Progressives Congress (APC) has announced that a fresh primary election will be conducted in Kogi State to pick a replacement for late Abubakar Audu.

Speaking with reporters at the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja on Tuesday, the Chairman of the party, John Oyegun, said the decision to hold a fresh primary was taken after the APC received a letter from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) asking it to replace late Audu.

“It is in the public space already that the Chief Law Officer of the republic has made his views known on how things should develop from this stage on.

“He has made a pronouncement to the effect that all that is required is for the APC to go through the processes of providing a substitute to our late candidate with the implication being that thereafter, the supplementary elections to conclude the process of electing a new governor of Kogi State will began to be put in place. So, as a party, we are going to proceed with the process of  organising a primary to provide a substitute for our candidate, Abubakar Audu.

Mr Oyegun further said: “We will go into executive session to know the nature of the primary”.

The Chairman of the APC, said that “Kogi’s situation fits more into section 181(1) of the Nigerian Constitution and as such, Abiodun Faleke automatically becomes the governorship candidate of the APC.

The Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, had earlier said that the APC could chose a substitute for the late candidate who died a day after the governorship election.

INEC declared Saturday’s election inconclusive because the number of cancelled votes was higher than the margin between the two leading candidates. Audu, who was leading the election, secured 240,867 votes, ahead of Idris Wada, incumbent governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 199,514 votes.

The difference between them was 41,353 votes, while a total of 49,953 votes were voided in the election as a result of irregularities.

But the opposition Peoples Democratic Party had said it would not accept a situation where the candidate would be replaced, saying that the decision was a setback to Nigeria’s democracy.

The PDP kicked against the Attorney General’s statement, asking him to “immediately vacate his office for harrying and misleading the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) into arriving at the decision”.