•INEC rejects Adamawa REC’s action, to decide governor-elect tomorrow •PDP, Atiku, others cry foul
This cannot stand, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared yesterday after its Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa-Ari in Adamawa State, announced Senator Aishatu Ahmed Binani as governor-elect.
The commission said the REC broke the rules with the announcement which ought to be the role of the Returning officer.
It summoned the REC and the Returning Officer, Prof. Mele Mohammed, to Abuja and halted further collation of results of the supplementary election in the state.
INEC’s National Commissioner in charge of Voter Education, Festus Okoye, who announced these steps, added that the commission’s management would meet tomorrow to review the Adamawa situation and take a final decision.
Okoye said: “The situation on the ground is that we have suspended the further collation of results for the Adamawa governorship election, pending when the commission meets to take a position.
“Secondly, we have also summoned the Collation and returning officer, Prof. Mele. He is already in Abuja.
“We have also summoned the REC for Adamawa, who illegally went and made a declaration and a return, to Abuja. He knows that part of his function has nothing to do with making declarations and returns. The REC represents the commission in the state and exercises the power delegated to him by the commission and is also answerable to the Commission.
“Being the Collation officer and being a Returning officer was not part of the functions he was supposed to perform. So, he has to come and explain to the Commission.”
There was uproar at the collation centre in Yola, the state capital, following the hijack of the functions of the Returning Officer, Prof. Mohammed, by the REC, who declared Binani the winner of the inconclusive election.
“The APC scored the highest votes. Going by that, Aishatu Binani is hereby declared elected governor of Adamawa State,” said Yunusa-Ari, who never provided the results of the poll.
There was a mild drama as Binani gave an acceptance speech after being illegally declared.
She said her election as the first female governor in the country would encourage other women to participate actively in politics.
Binani stressed: “You’ve made history in electing the first female governor in our dear country, Nigeria. This will no doubt broaden political participation by encouraging our daughters, sisters, aunties, mothers and indeed, the girl child.”
However, following protests by party agents, observers and other stakeholders, INEC suspended further collation of the results.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar chided the electoral agency, saying that its action was premeditated.
Urging residents to be calm, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, who objected to the illegal announcement, assured that his mandate cannot be stolen.
‘INEC’s action premeditated’
Atiku said the illegal declaration was premeditated.
The PDP presidential candidate, in a statement by his media adviser, Mazi Paul Ibe, said INEC’s game plan was to upturn the democratic wishes of the Adamawa people.
He said the initial decision of the REC was to declare the APC candidate as the winner.
Atiku said the Adamawa episode was a case study of the shambolic nature of the 2023 elections in general.
He said: “Here in Adamawa, we are witnesses to a novel practice in election management where a REC announced the loser of an election as a winner.
“It is not in doubt that INEC has approached the Adamawa election with a pre-set agenda of declaring the APC at all costs.
“It is, therefore, on this note that we wish to call the attention of the world to the scheme being perpetrated by INEC to compromise the electoral wishes of the people of Adamawa.
“We also wish to inform the world that such behaviour by INEC has a natural consequence of unsettling the peace and security of the society.
“That the APC candidate has a prepared acceptance speech is a pointer to the guarantee of a false victory, which the INEC must have promised her.”
REC’s action provocative, says Fintiri
Fintiri said the decision of Yunusa-Ari was “illegal and provocative”.
The governor called on President Muhammadu Buhari to wade into the matter, saying he should not “shy away from this”.
He said: “We call on him to make a statement. We call on him to take a decision. I believe he will not be a party to this.”
The governor called on residents to “peacefully await” the next directive of INEC, adding that the integrity of the electoral commission is “on test”.
He expressed optimism that the electoral umpire would eventually collate and announce the winner of the election without subverting the democratic rights of the residents.
It was a coup, says Sani
Senator Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the eighth National Assembly, said Binani’s declaration as the winner was a civilian coup.”
He, however, hailed the INEC for taking the bold step to suspend the collation.
Sani, in a statement in Kaduna, commended Profe Mahmud Yakubu and the INEC management for prompt intervention.
He said: “It was obvious that the REC was out to truncate democracy in the state and by extension Nigeria if his action was allowed unchecked.
“The declaration by Adamawa REC is an equivalent of a civilian coup.
“The action of the REC stands condemned. Our democracy can’t survive if we condone such brazen acts of criminality and brigandage.”
He, however, said it was not enough to summon the REC and other perpetrators, adding: “The REC and the security men, who perpetrated the act, must be prosecuted.”
PDP demands prosecution of REC
PDP called for the prosecution of the REC.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the party said Yunusa-Ari usurped the duties and powers of the INEC Returning Officer, whose duty it was to declare the winner.
The statement said: “It is even more absurd that the Adamawa REC did not only usurp the powers of the Returning Officer but attempted to declare a winner without figures in reckless violation of the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act, 2022, INEC Guidelines as well as the sensibility of the people of Adamawa.
“This reprehensible criminal conduct of the Adamawa State REC confirms the earlier alarms by the PDP which demanded his immediate removal following evidence of his complicity and being compromised by the APC and its candidate to manipulate the election in their favour notwithstanding the votes by the people.
“Mallam Yunusa Ari’s action is subversive and calculated to cause crisis in Adamawa, destabilize our democracy and peaceful co-existence as a nation.
“We call on the Inspector-General of Police to immediately arrest Mallam Yunusa-Ari and make him face the full wrath of the law for his conduct.
“From the results already collated across the 69 polling units where the supplementary elections were held and which are on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal, Governor Fintiri clearly won the election.
“Our party, therefore, demands that INEC should without further delay, announce the results as already collated from the polling units and declare Governor Fintiri as the winner. Anything short of this will not be accepted by our party and the people of Adamawa State.”
‘PDP mandate cannot be stolen’
PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), in a statement by its Acting Chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara, said the REC acted in total disregard for the rule of law and extant electoral guidelines.
He regretted that Mallam Ari was accompanied by security officials while illegally declaring the results, which INEC had declared null, void and of no effect.
Wabara said collated results from 10 local government areas indicated that the PDP was still in the clear lead over the APC candidate.
He added: “This open disregard for the rule of law is a pointer that the Electoral Commission is compromised from within and Nigerians are expecting INEC to act justly as a neutral entity with respect to the supplementary elections taking place in Adamawa and other states in Nigeria.
“With the plethora of controversies surrounding the general elections so far, we call upon INEC to ensure that the outcome of the supplementary elections is not added to the list of controversial elections conducted by the body.”
CDD asks INEC to sanction REC
The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) urged INEC to “sanction all erring officials who carried out the illegal” declaration of Binani as the winner.
CDD said: “The laws and procedures guiding Nigeria’s elections are such that only the returning officer can make such a declaration, which makes this recent announcement null and void.
“We call on INEC to immediately exercise its powers by continuing the collation process that was scheduled to resume today, sanction all erring officials who carried out this illegal announcement and ensure that results are publicly available to all citizens.
“It is important that laid down processes are adhered to avoid a breakdown of law and order in a heightened political environment.”
INEC seeks adequate security for officers
INEC called on security agencies to provide adequate security for its two national commissioners and officers deployed to Adamawa for the supplementary election.
The officers were beaten and stripped.
The commission made the call in a statement by Okoye.
Okoye, who said that the commission was disturbed by the harassment of its officers in the state, warned that nothing should happen to them.
“The Commission is deeply disturbed by the harassment of our two National Commissioners deployed to the state to ensure a peaceful and credible supplementary election.
“We urge the security agencies to provide them with the necessary security and ensure that nothing untoward befalls them.
“The two National Commissioners, the Returning Officer and other staff of the Commission must be allowed to perform their duties without let or hindrance.”
Okoye said that INEC would not condone any act of lawlessness or brigandage targeted at its officials or the process of the election in the state.
DSS investigates attack on staff
The Department of State Services (DSS) said it has launched an investigation into a trending video on social media where someone suspected to be its personnel was manhandled by political miscreants in Adamawa.
Spokesman of the agency, Dr Peter Afunanya, in a statement in Abuja, said: “The attention of the DSS has been drawn to a trending video on social media in which someone suspected to be its staff was allegedly manhandled by some political miscreants in Adamawa. This followed developments arising from the supplementary governorship election in the state.
“The Service wishes to inform the public that it has commenced a full investigation into the circumstances that led to the incident.
“While calling for calm, the Service also implores concerned parties in Adamawa State to remain peace-loving and shun violence.”
