The disputed announcement of Aishatu Dahiru Binani of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the governorship race has been addressed by Hudu Yunusa Ari, the suspended resident electoral commissioner for Adamawa State.
Recall that after declaring Binani the winner in violation of the Electoral Act, Ari was suspended by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). After conducting the election in accordance with the law, INEC later pronounced Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be the legitimate winner.
Ari claimed that he followed the law in a recent letter to the Inspector General of Police. He said that the copies he signed and uploaded to the Result Viewing (IReV) portal did not match the results that the INEC Collation Officer was about to announce.
During the supplementary election, he claimed that two national commissioners met with Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri at the Government House in Yola, and that attempts were made to replace him with his secretary.
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“It was based on this that I compiled all the polling unit results and declared the election winner based on the highest number of valid votes scored by the candidate of the APC,” Ari stated.
“I had the breakdown of the valid votes scored by the two leading candidates in the supplementary election, using the results from the polling units as collated into all relevant forms EC8B, C, D and E respectively by properly and legally appointed and recognised collation officers and my humble self as the Adamawa State Chief Collation Officer and Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC).”
In the meantime, INEC has refuted reports that its representatives spoke with Fintiri during the supplementary election. The Inspector General of Police and other required security agencies had earlier been requested by INEC to look into and bring charges against Ari for his part in the illegitimate announcement of Binani as the governorship election winner.
