Essential Ndubuisi
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of Adamawa State, Yunusa Ari, has caused controversy by declaring the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Aisha Dahiru, aka Binani, the winner of the state’s supplementary governorship election before the Returning Officer, Mele Lamido, had announced the official results.
This action, which occurred before the scheduled collation of results on Sunday, was met with protests from members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) present at the collation centre.
The REC’s announcement has since been declared null and void by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and officials involved in the incident have been summoned to INEC headquarters in Abuja.
The PDP has called for the arrest of the REC and is demanding that their candidate, incumbent governor Ahmadu Fintiri, be declared the winner of the election based on the already collated results.
The situation has been criticized by Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 election, who believes that it is part of a plot to undermine democracy and provoke violence in Adamawa.
