Meet James Faleke, The Lagos Lawmaker that Might Emerge Governor of Kogi

Before now, many never knew James Abiodun Faleke, the running mate of the deceased Kogi governorship candidate, Audu Abubakar.

If the All Progressives Congress should decide to hold another primary election, he may be put forward as one of the candidates considering he is the running mate to the deceased.

One thing that would be expected is that the candidacy won’t be handed to him on a platter of gold, as he may possibly have to fight for the ticket considering he has always been regarded as a Lagos politician.

James Faleke is a thoroughbred by any standard, and his story can’t be told without taking a trip down memory lane, to how it all began for him, politically.

James Faleke ventured into the Lagos political scene in 2003, when he served as the Pioneer Executive Secretary of Ojodu Local Government Development Area from November 2003 to April 2004. He was subsequently elected as the Executive Chairman of Ojodu Local Government Development Area for two consecutive terms from 2004-2011.

During that time, the former lawmaker served as the Chairman, Conference 57, body of Local Government Chairmen in Lags State (ALGON), from 2006 to 2011.

In 2011, he emerged as a federal legislator representing Ikeja Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives and he would also win his re-election bid in March 2015.

He was never a spectator federal lawmaker, as he was active throughout his first term, serving as Chairman of the House Committee on Anti-Corruption, National Ethics and Values and was on 6 other committees.

Faleke is believed to be one of the trusted allies and loyalists of the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

His closeness with Tinubu was further evidenced by his appointment as the Lagos State Campaign Coordinator for Buhari/ Osinbajo Campaign Group from December 2014 to April 2015.

Faleke’s selection as running mate for Audu Abubakar was met with stiff rejection from the party chieftains in the state. Many of them described Faleke as an outsider, owing to the fact that his entire political career was in Lagos.

Their argument was based on the fact that he was not well grounded on the politics of Kogi state, as many felt he was imposed by the powers-that-be, in the party.

In spite of this opposition, Faleke went ahead to serve as running mate to Audu, whose death may have possibly created an opportunity for him to run for governor.

But then, his fate for now is left hanging… between his party, the APC, INEC and the Supreme Court, which may be the final decider of the current political logjam that has become the Kogi governorship election of 2015.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the election as inconclusive in spite of Audu’s 240, 827 votes, against the 199, 514 votes polled by Governor Wada, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Several permutations are being bandied around regarding the implications of Audu’s death and the ripple effect it will have on the governorship race. The declaration of the election as inconclusive further makes the outcome uncertain.

Prof. Emmanuel Kucha had announced that no party could be declared the winner because the number of cancelled votes was more than the difference between the winner and the runner-up.

Abubakar Audu’s death has inadvertently led to a constitution and Electoral Act logjam, as no provision was made for such a peculiar situation- where a candidate dies after an election has been declared inconclusive.

The Electoral Act only caters for a situation wherein a candidate dies before an election, at which point, the electoral body (INEC) is bound by law to postpone the election.

Section 36 “(1) states thus: “If after the time for the delivery of nomination paper and before the commencement of the poll, a nominated candidate dies, the Chief National Electoral Commissioner or the Resident Electoral Commissioner shall, being satisfied of the fact of the death, countermand the poll in which the deceased candidate was to participate and the Commission shall appoint some other convenient date for the election within 14 days.”

Based on the fact that Audu was not sworn-in as governor before his death, the deputy, James Faleke, can also not enjoy the benefit of section 181 of the constitution, which states that: “If a person duly elected as Governor dies before taking and subscribing the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office, or is unable for any reason whatsoever to be sworn in, the person elected with him as Deputy governor shall be sworn in as governor and he shall nominate a new Deputy-Governor who shall be appointed by the Governor with the approval of a simple majority of the House of Assembly of the State.”

The result of the election, having been voided by inconclusivity and a rerun, leaves only one possible option: INEC may have to give the political party sufficient time to conduct another primary election where a new candidate will be nominated.

The All Progressives Congress cannot substitute Faleke for Audu, simply because he was not nominated for the ticket. Hence, a direct or indirect primary would have to be conducted to pick another candidate.

If the election had been clearly won by the Audu/Faleke ticket, the running mate would have taken over without hassles, but now that there will be a rerun of the election, there are three possible scenarios:

1. The party may have to conduct another round of primaries.
2. The runner-up in the initial primaries may emerge as the governorship aspirant.
3. The deputy (which is the running mate) may be promoted to be the aspirant.

If the latter happens, James Faleke would get to contest for governor, a scenario he probably never envisaged 24 hours ago.

(Ynaija)