There is no gainsaying James Faleke is an astute politician. The former running mate to late Governor Abubakar Audu at the Kogi State governorship election, understands the wisdom of daring mighty things, like a general spoiling to win glorious triumphs. Although he lost his bid to become Kogi governor soon after the demise of late Audu, Faleke has counted his losses and moved on. Despite the hurt he suffered on being denied the governorship seat, Faleke will not retreat into political oblivion. The former governorship aspirant has not given up on social life; recently, he attracted a large crowd of the nation’s high society as he buried his father-in-law in grand style.
Last weekend, Faleke buried his father-in-law with pomp and pageantry in Lagos. Contrary to rumours that Faleke had fallen out of favour with the political power elite, top politicians and business moguls were in attendance at the event, which had King Sunny Ade on the band stand. The latter sang the praise of the politicians and businessmen who graced the ceremony to their delight. Faleke no doubt used the ceremony to prove to people that even without being the Governor of Kogi State, he is still a “crowd puller.”
It would be recalled that he was cleverly tossed out of the power equation by the powers that be in the All Progressives Congress (APC), the ruling party in Kogi state. After Audu’s death, by right, James Falake should have emerged his successor as the party’s flagbearer and governor-elect, but dirty politicians had their way and the party replaced Audu with the runner-up in the party’s governorship primaries, Yahaya Bello. He wept and wailed like a banshee then. Nothing happened.
He has resigned to the fickle finger of fate, adjusting to life without the exaggerated obsequiousness and panoplies of power. By virtue of this, his governorship hope was shattered into smithereens, postponing any good news from that end by yet another four years in the least.
