The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is set to announce the result of the controversial Adamawa State governorship election, on Thursday .
The INEC will meet between Tuesday and Wednesday as a “Commission” on the matter, National Commissioner and Chairman of information and Voter Education Committee, Dr Festus Okoye, said. The Commission had on Monday suspended its Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Mr. Hudu Yunusa-Ari for usurping the powers of the Chief Returning Officer and unilaterally returning the All Progressives Congress, APC, Candidate, Senator Aisha Dahiru Binani, as duly elected when collation had not been concluded sparking a controversy.
The declaration of election results is the responsibility of the returning officer, and not the resident electoral commissioner. The INEC summoned the REC and Mele Lamido, returning officer in the election, to its headquarters in Abuja. At the time the REC announced Binani as winner of the poll, results of the supplementary election from 10 LGAs were yet to be collated.
From the results collated on Saturday, Ahmadu Fintiri, Adamawa State governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was in the lead. Apart from nullifying Yunusa-Ari’s declaration, the commission, yesterday, barred the REC from its office as PDP members and supporters protested in the state and issued the electoral umpire a 72- hour ultimatum to announce the results.
This was as a group of Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, described the political drama associated with the supplementary election in Adamawa State as an attempt to derail Nigeria’s democracy and called on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene. Of the 26 states where governorship polls were held, Adamawa is the only one yet to be concluded. The first election on March 18 was declared inconclusive alongside Kebbi. However, the other supplementary polls were concluded on April 15 while that of Adamawa ran into a fresh crisis following the action of the suspended REC.
Asked when the coalition would resume following the REC’s suspension, Okoye said, “the commission” would have to meet first and fix a date for continuation of the exercise. A meeting of “the commission” entails a gathering of the INEC Chairman and the 12 national commissioners.
According to Okoye, most of the national commissioners were deployed to the states to monitor last weekend’s supplementary elections, explaining that they were on their way back to Abuja. “The commission will have to meet as a Commission to take a decision on that. The National Commissioners were deployed in various states. One was sent to Kebbi, one to Oyo, one to Sokoto, another to Rivers and so on. They are on their way to Abuja. If they get to Abuja tonight (Monday), then the commission may likely meet on Tuesday and decide on the date to continue with the collation,” Okoye said.
Sources at the commission, however, said the electoral umpire does not intend to stretch the process further except “legally necessary”, adding that the collation would be concluded before the week runs out in order to douse tension in the state.
