Weeks after the Adamawa State governorship election saga, the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Barrister Hudu Yunusa-Ari has disclosed that he declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Aishatu Dahiru (popularly known as Binani) winner due to security pressure.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) suspended Yunusa-Ari after the illegal declaration of Binani as the winner, contrary to the Electoral Act.
But, INEC waded into the controversy and declared Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party the authentic winner of the election after due process was followed.
Fintiri polled 430,861 votes to defeat Binani.
INEC asked the Inspector-General of Police and other security agencies to probe and prosecute Yunusa-Ari. But he has not been heard from or seen since then.
In his recent letter to the Inspector General of Police, Yunusa-Ari explained that he acted within the ambit of the law.
According to him, the results to be announced by the INEC collation officer differed from the copies he signed and uploaded on the Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
He stated that attempts were made to replace him with his secretary, alleging that the two national commissioners were at the Government House, Yola, at 8:31 pm on 15th April.
He stated: “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.
“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).
“Before the declaration, an intelligence report was made available to me that the two national commissioners were at the Government House, Yola, at 8:31 pm on April 15, 2023, and held a meeting with Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri”.
Meanwhile, INEC had denied claims of its officials meeting with Fintiri during the supplementary election.
