Due To His Father's Enduring Political Structure And Support, Muhammad, the son of late Prince Audu may emerge the next governorship aspirant from Kogi State.
According to the Punch, there were strong indications on
Wednesday that the campaign organisation of the late Kogi State
governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Abubakar
Audu, was preparing a ground for the emergence of the deceased’s son,
Mohammed, as a replacement for his father.
This is coming after the commission had on Tuesday written the APC,
directing it to submit a replacement for the late Audu who died on
Sunday, a few hours after the Independent National Electoral Commission
declared the November 21 governorship poll in the state inconclusive.
The deceased had polled 240,867 votes in the election while the
Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate and incumbent state Governor, Capt.
Idris Wada (retd.), scored 199,514 votes, leaving a gap of 41,353 votes
between the two leading candidates in the election. INEC had declared
the election inconclusive on the grounds that cancelled votes or
registered voters in the 91 polling units, where the exercise did not
take place were 49,953, a figure higher than Audu’s lead of 41,353
votes.
The party had announced it would hold a fresh primary to produce a
replacement for the deceased APC standard bearer. According to a leader
of the APC in the state, many are of the opinion that Mohammed should
join the race for the governorship position to replace his father. It is
alleged that members of the group, which dominates the APC in the
state, met on Tuesday night following the party’s declaration that
another primary would be held to produce a replacement for the late
governorship candidate to decide on who to side for the rescheduled
governorship primary election.
The APC leader said the late Audu’s political structure was still
intact despite his death and that nobody could win the state
governorship primary of the APC without the backing of Audu’s
supporters. This could be why some of the APC members and supporters of
the party want his son to take over his father's place.
The source said, “Abubakar Audu’s supporters, including his
campaign structure, are rooting for either Audu’s son, Mohammed, or
James Faleke for them not to lose out entirely. They are narrowing it to
either Faleke or Mohammed because the APC machinery believes that the
election has been won. But the party elders and leaders, who worked for
him, will be more comfortable with Mohammed."
The spokesperson for the APC in Kogi State, Abdulmalik Suleiman, said, “We
are mourning. This is the time for sober reflection and we are praying
for our late leader and icon. At the appropriate time, the public will
know because APC has a way of solving its issues and problems.”
Four aspirants have already started jostling for the vacant
position. They are: Faleke, who was Audu’s running mate in last
Saturday’s poll; Yahaya Bello; a former PDP governorship aspirant,
Jubrin Echocho, and Salihu Atawodi.
