The proclamation of Adamawa Gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Aisha “Binani” Dahiru, as the victor of the state gubernatorial election has provoked outrage across the country. The proclamation, which did not go down well with opposition parties and non-governmental organizations, is said to have jeopardized the state’s tranquility.
According to reports, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Adamawa, Hudu Yunusa-Ari, proclaimed Binani the winner in the early hours of Sunday. In this article, we will look at 5 things you should know about the election.
Adamawa elections were first conducted on March 18, 2023.
Adamawa governor elections were held for the first time on March 18, 2023, alongside gubernatorial elections in other states. Nonetheless, the electoral commission called the state election inconclusive. INEC said that the elections were ruled inconclusive because the cancelled votes exceeded the margin of victory between Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the runner-up, Aisha Dahiru of the APC.
According to sources, Fintiri beat Binani with over 30,000 votes at the end of the official results tally. The campaign was described as “hotly contested” between the current governor and Binani, a serving senator known in the state for her generosity. After ruling the election inconclusive, INEC set the 15th of April, 2023 as the date for supplemental elections in the state.
Hudu Yunusa-declaration Ari’s lacked legal support.
The compilation of results for the 15th of April, 2023 extra gubernatorial election was not completed when Yunusa-Ari pronounced Binani the victor of the vote. It is vital to highlight that the Resident Electoral Commissioner has no constitutional authority to proclaim a political candidate the victor of an election. Mele Lamido, the state’s returning officer, is the lone recipient of the proclamation.
Yunusa-Ari breached Sections 64 and 65 of the Electoral Act 2022, as well as Part 3 of the INEC recommendations, by making such a declaration. Section 65 states in part, “(1)The judgment of the returning officer shall be final on any matter arising from or pertaining to—(a) unmarked ballot paper; (b) rejected ballot paper; and (c) declaration of candidate scores and the return of a candidate.” According to news sources, the errant Employee might face up to 36 months in prison if convicted.
Fintiri leads in Adamawa elections.
Before the collation procedure was interrupted on Saturday night, results from ten Local Government Areas were revealed, according to news reports. According to the findings, Fintiri was ahead of Binani. This indicates that the results from roughly ten local government districts had not been compiled when Binani was declared the victor by the REC.
In response to the incident, Fintiri expressed confidence that the governorship election in the state would not be jeopardized by the technology used by INEC. He intimated that results from 69 voting units in the state had been submitted to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV). Fintiri’s party, the PDP, has called for Yunusa-arrest Ari’s and demanded that an inquiry be initiated to identify who he is working with and for.
Binani’s victory has been declared null and void by INEC.
INEC claimed in a statement published by its spokesperson, Festus Okoye, that Yunusa-declaration Ari’s was “null, invalid, and of no consequence.” The statement states in part, “The Commission’s attention has been called to a supposed proclamation of a winner in the Adamawa Governorship election by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) even though the procedure has plainly not been completed… As a result, the collation of the results of the supplemental election held yesterday, April 15th, 2023, is immediately halted. The REC, Returning Officer, and all parties concerned are hereby summoned to the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja forthwith.”
Binani’s acceptance speech
Binani delivered an acceptance speech shortly after being unlawfully designated the state’s governor-elect. In her address to the people of Adamawa, she declared, “……You’ve created history by choosing the first female governor in our beautiful country, Nigeria.” This would undoubtedly increase political engagement by encouraging our daughters, sisters, aunties, moms, and, indeed, the girl child.”
