The legally-recognised deputy governor-elect of Kogi State, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, yesterday returned to the House of Representatives, where he took part in Tuesday’s plenary session amid cheers from his colleagues.
Faleke, who is currently in the news over his insistence that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declare him governor-elect of Kogi State after the death of his principal, Prince Abubakar Audu, in the November 21 governorship poll in the state, represents Ikeja Federal Constituency of Lagos State in the 8th House of Representatives, where he is also the chairman of the Committee on Customs and Excise.
He stormed the Green Chamber spotting a white flowing ‘Agbada’ and a hand-made red cap, amid cheers and ovation from his colleagues in the House as he approached the Speaker’s seat where he held a tete-a-tête with Speaker Yakubu Dogara for a few minutes before resuming at his official seat.
The presence of Faleke, who is a two-time member of the House having transferred his voter card from Lagos to Kogi to enable him exercise his franchise has also raised new legal questions as to whether or not he still has the legal rights to represent the people of Lagos.
Faleke who rejected his re-nomination as deputy governorship candidate to the eventual winner and governor-elect, Alhaji Yahaya Bello has since gone to court asking the judiciary to declare him governor-elect instead of Yahaya Bello whose name the All Progressives Congress (APC) forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the subtitute to the late Prince Abubakar Audu.
