Jubilation as Bello emerges Kogi Governor-elect, Faleke kicks

The people of Okene in Kogi State on Sunday took to the streets celebrating the declaration of Alhaji Yahaya Bello as the Governor-elect of the state.
Bello, who hails from Agassa in Okene Local Government Area, was declared winner of the governorship election following the outcome of the December 5 supplementary poll in 91 polling units in the state.
Bello contested the election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.
He emerged as the replacement of the party’s initial candidate, late Prince Abubakar Audu, who died on November 22.
Hundreds of people were seen on major streets of Okene on Sunday dancing, jubilating and singing victory songs.
Masquerades were also among the jubilant in different attires.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the INEC’s Returning Officer, Prof. Emmanuel Kucha, on Sunday declared Bello as the governor-elect of Kogi State.
Bello scored 247,752 votes, while the incumbent and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Captain Idris Wada, got 204,877 votes.
Some of those jubilating said they were excited that one of them had finally emerged as the governor of the state.
Isa Mohammed, a barber, said he was happy that the power rotation they had long agitated for had come to them.
Mohammed said: “It is a divine arrangement and an act of God that it happened at this point in time.
“We are grateful to God for making this shift of power possible and for considering the Ebira.”
Ibrahim Jimoh also said the emergence of Bello had brought liberation to the “marginalised” tribes in the state.
Jimoh, therefore, called on all other tribes to support the governor-elect for the development of the state.
However, the the Audu/James Faleke Campaign Organisation has described the supplementary election that produced Bello as Governor-elect as “unnecessary and a complete waste of tax payers’ money”.
The group’s stand was contained in a statement signed and issued by its Director of Media, Duro Meseko, in Lokoja on Sunday.
It said the final results of the election declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission had vindicated its earlier position that the Audu/Faleke ticket had won the November 21 governorship election and should have been declared as such.
It said: “In the Supplementary election final results declared by INEC, the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled 6885 votes, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 5363 votes.
“Making it a total of 12,248 votes, a far cry from the 49,353 registered voters that INEC claimed to have based its decision on to declare the election inconclusive.
“It is now crystal clear to everybody that the Kogi governorship election of November 21 was already won and lost before the strange supplementary election was introduced.”
The group urged both its supporters and members to remain calm and steadfast as steps had been initiated to enable the law takes its rightful course.
NAN.