The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday invalidated the declaration of Mrs. Aishatu Dahiru, popularly called Binani, as the winner of the governorship election in Adamawa State.
INEC stated this in a statement by its spokesperson, Mr. Festus Okoye.
“The attention of the Commission has been drawn to a purported declaration of winner in the Adamawa Governorship election by the resident electoral commissioner (REC) even when the process has clearly not been concluded,” he said.
The INEC resident electoral commissioner in Adamawa, Mr. Hudu Ari, had on Sunday morning, controversially declared Dahiru of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election.
However, Okoye said the REC’s decision to announce Dahiru as the winner was a usurpation of powers.
According to the electoral law, the announcement should have been made by the returning officer of the election, who is a different person, usually an academic appointed by INEC for that purpose.
The commission ordered the suspension of the collation of results and summoned both the REC and the returning officer to the INEC headquarters in Abuja.
“The action of the REC is a usurpation of the power of the returning officer. It is null, void and of no effect. Consequently, the collation of results of the supplementary election is hereby suspended.
“The REC, returning officer and all involved are hereby invited to the commission’s headquarters in Abuja immediately,” he said.
In her ‘victory’ speech, Binani said in a broadcast on the NTA: “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.”
She and the incumbent Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governor, Mr. Ahmadu Fintiri are the two main contestants in the election with Fintiri leading before Saturday’s supplementary election in 69 polling units.
Recall that before the supplementary poll, Fintiri led Dahiru with over 30,000 votes.
In the result declared on March 11, Fintiri polled 421,524 votes, while his main rival, Binani scored 390,275.
Fintiri defeated Binani with a margin of over 30,000 votes. The governor also won the election in 13 of Adamawa’s 21 local government areas while Binani won in the remaining eight.
But the state’s collation officer, Prof. Mohammed Mele announced the cancellation of elections in 69 polling units in Fufore local government area, which affected no fewer than 37,016 potential voters with PVCs in those units.
Though the final results showed that Fintiri scored the highest votes, INEC said the cancelled votes were more than the margin of victory between him and the runner-up, Binani.
It, therefore, declared the governorship election in Adamawa State inconclusive.
The 37,016 potential voters in Fufore were expected to determine the fate of Fintiri and Binani last Saturday.
In Saturday’s supplementary poll, the results collated by INEC from 11 area councils showed that Fintiri got 5, 282 votes while Binani scored 3,692.
In Demsa Borong Ward, APC scored 43 votes while the PDP got 124 votes.
In Yola South, APC got 797 votes, while the PDP scored 678 votes.
APC got 368 votes in Yola North, while the PDP scored 357 votes.
Others declared are: Lamurde LGA, while, APC got 285, PDP scored 580; Jada LGA, APC 145, PDP 271; Shelleng LGA, APC 223, PDP 299; Hong LGA, APC 361, PDP 1,056; Gante LGA, APC 176, PDP 309; Muhia LGA, APC 172, PDP 271; Song LGA, APC 558, PDP 309; and Michika LGA, APC 562, PDP 1028.
Meanwhile, Yiaga Africa, a civil society organisation, in its immediate response, described the declaration as illegal, saying it was against the guidelines of the Electoral Act.
“We’ve received reports of an illegal declaration of results by the @inecnigeria REC for #Adamawa in violation of S 64 & 65 Electoral Act 2022 & Part 3, INEC guidelines which vests the power to declare results solely on a Returning officer appointed by INEC.
“We call on @inecnigeria to nullify the illegal declaration, suspend the REC for Adamawa state and take urgent actions to protect the integrity of the process,” YIAGA Africa stated.
Similarly, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) condemned the action of the Adamawa REC.
“It is important that laid down processes are adhered to avoid a breakdown of law and order in a heightened political environment. CDD will release a statement on the conduct of the elections later today,” CDD said in a statement on its Twitter handle.
In his reaction, Fintiri said the decision of the REC to declare a winner in the governorship election was “illegal and provocative”.
The governor called on President Muhammadu Buhari to wade into the matter, saying he should not “shy away from this”.
“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,” he added.
Also reacting, the PDP insisted that its candidate and incumbent governor should be declared the winner of the election, based on facts on the ground and the already collated results.
Spokesman for the party, Mr. Debo Ologunagba, who said this in a statement in Abuja, called on the people of Adamawa State, Nigerians and the international community to disregard the purported declaration of the defeated candidate of the APC, Binani as the winner of Adamawa State governorship election.
In his reaction, the presidential candidate of the PDP, Mr. Atiku Abubakar, called the attention of Nigerians to what he described as the “game plan of upturning the democratic wishes of the people of Adamawa State” in the governorship election in the state.
Atiku, in a statement signed by his media aide, Mr. Paul Ibe, said the initial decision of the REC to declare the APC candidate, Binani, as the winner of the election, was a case study to the shambolic nature of the 2023 elections in general.
“Here in Adamawa, we are witnesses to a novel practice in election management where a resident electoral commissioner announced the loser of an election as a winner,” he stated.
