Kogi election impasse: APC lawmakers insist on Audu’s son

Abubakar Audu: casting his vote in his Ogbonicha village, less than 24 hours before his sudden death

Audu Abubakar: APC lawmakers rooting for his son to step into his shoes

All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in Kogi state, on Friday threatened to impeach any candidate chosen to replace the late torch bearer, Prince Abubakar Audu.

Some of the lawmakers, who were at the party’s secretariat in Abuja, told newsmen that their wish was that Mohammed Audu be given the mandate of his late father.

Mr Momoh Rabiu, who spoke on behalf of the lawmakers, said: “Based on our discussion, we have taken a decision and taken our resolution to the national chairman.

“We are overwhelmed by the response from them, but we are still waiting for a safe landing so that Kogi will not be doomed.

“We told the national chairman that on no account should anybody be smuggled in to occupy that position which we worked for in conjunction with the late Audu, without who there would be no APC in Kogi state today.

Prince Mohammed Audu

“We presented to the national leadership, Prince Mohammed Audu to replace his late father.

“It is not because he is the first son, but try him, he is very intelligent and equal to the task. With him, we will have the Kogi of our dream.”

Rabiu said the decision to replace the late Audu with his son was taken because of the commitment of the late flag-bearer and because the lawmakers do not want Kogi to continue to be ruled by the PDP.

Insisting that their threat to remove any candidate that emerged from the proposed primary was no threat but a fact, Rabiu appealed to the APC leadership to respect their wish.

“We are the legislators and have told the national chairman our position that in any case anybody emerges contrary to what we present to them, we know the best way to remove him.

“It is not a threat, but we told them that we have no intention of washing our dirty linen in public.

“Removing somebody is just a two minutes job for us as lawmakers in the state. We want the change we worked for and we want Kogi to be part of the moving train.

“We are not asking Faleke to stay away from the ticket. We equally worked with him during the campaigns.

“What we are saying is that it should be Mohammed Audu/Faleke ticket. The two of them must work together,” he said.

Since the death of the late leader on Nov. 22, there had been uncertainty  about who would emerge from the party.

Although the leadership of the party had been having series of meetings to deliberate on the issue; it has not reached a decision on the date of a fresh primary in the state.

There are 25 members of the State Assembly. The PDP has 14 and the APC 11 members.