Kogi gubernatorial saga: APC stakeholders set to replace Faleke as deputy governor

Sequel to the refusal of Hon. Abiodun Faleke to accept the dep­uty governorship, some key stake­holders in the All Progressives Congress ( APC) in Kogi West are set to replace him.

Faleke was the running mate to the late Prince Abubakar Audu, the governorship candidate who died last month just before the results were announced by the Indepen­dent National Electoral Commis­sion (INEC).

The stakeholders have called on the Governor-elect, Alhaji Yahaya Bello and the national leadership of the party to accept a replacement.

While insisting on the supremacy of the APC leadership, they advised Bello to keep watch over some po­litical jobbers who have constituted a nuisance to APC in Kogi West.

This was one of the resolutions of the stakeholders after a meeting convened by a former deputy gov­ernor of Kogi State, Clarence Ola­femi and Senator Dino Melaye held in Lokoja.

The resolutions which were signed by over 40 members from Mopamuro, Kogi/Koto, Yagba East, Yagba West, Ijumu, Kabba/ Bunu and Lokoja Local Govern­ment Areas of Kogi State, was ob­tained by Daily Sun in Abuja.

The signatories include Tope Ajayi (Mopamuro); Shaban Sh­uaibu (Kogi/Koto); Kayode Ade­bayo (Yagba East); Gbenga Aza­gun (Yagba West); Dolapo Abanida (Yagba West); Lamidi Salihu (Iju­mu); P. O. Olorunfemi (Kabba/ Bunu); and Alhaji Bala Salihu (Lo­koja).

The communique reads: “The unity among all the component elements of Kogi State is not ne­gotiable and so also is the cordial relationship between Kogi Central and Kogi West Senatorial districts. The APC stakeholders in Kogi West have absolute confidence in the representation and leadership of Senator Dino Melaye.

“Since Hon. Abiodun Faleke has made it abundantly clear that he does not want to be deputy to Gov­ernor-elect, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, we the APC stakeholders in Kogi West, hereby appeal to the gover­nor-elect and the party leadership to accept a replacement from the West, the process for which we are already embarking on.

“We call on the party leadership and governor-elect to watch with keen interest and take appropri­ate action against the politicians who are political jobbers and who always cross-carpet from APC to Accord Party, to the Peoples Dem­ocratic Party and back to APC as they constitute a nuisance to the APC in Kogi West and formed ille­gal stakeholders that are not known to the APC as a political party,” they said. (The Sun)