In the beginning: Audu, with his running mate, Abiodun Faleke

The election imbroglio in the central Nigerian state of Kogi got messier on Monday, with reports that the All Progressives Congress has submitted the nomination of Yahaya Bello, as a replacement for the dead governorship candidate, Prince Abubakar Audu.

But Audu’s running mate, James Abiodun Faleke, has also put himself forward as the party’s governorship candidate. And he has done what may pacify the majority Igala tribe in the state, by picking Audu’s first son, Mohammed Bello as the running mate.

According to reports, Faleke has sent a letter to the INEC headquarters and the APC leadership informing them of the latest development. A meeting between him and the APC leadership will take place later today in Abuja.

Prince Mohammed Audu: picked by Faleke as running mate

On the other side of the ring, the PDP candidate, Governor Idris Wada has asked INEC to declare him the winner, since his challenger, Audu has passed on.

The supplementary election to announce the final winner in the election declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission will take place on Saturday, 5 December. INEC says it is not postponing the election.

Analysts predict a titanic legal battle to resolve the unprecedented issues that Audu’s death has stirred.

To the Faleke camp, the supplementary poll is superfluous as the election was already won and lost on 21 November.

In the election the late APC candidate, led Wada by about 41,000 votes. But INEC insisted the election in 91 polling units must be conducted to declare the winner. According to the electoral umpire, there were 49,000 registered voters in the areas, more than the margin of victory of the APC candidate.

It turned out, according to lawyers,  that INEC did not do its mathematics properly as the number of voters qualified to vote with permanent voters card, is about 25,000, less than the 41,000 votes Audu had piled up to lead Wada in the 21 November election.