In the absence of any other unforeseen circumstances, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, will declare the results of the contentious and dramatic Adamawa State governorship election on Thursday. According to a Vanguard story.
Dr Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Head of the Information and Voter Education Committee, stated that the INEC will convene as a “Commission” on the topic between Tuesday and Wednesday. The Commission had suspended its Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Hudu Yunusa-Ari, on Monday 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 completed, sparking a controversy.
The returning officer, not the resident electoral commissioner, is responsible for declaring election results. The INEC called the REC and Mele Lamido, the returning officer in the election, to its headquarters in Abuja. The results of the supplemental election from 10 LGAs had not yet been compiled when the REC declared Binani the winner of the contest.
According to the figures compiled on Saturday, Ahmadu Fintiri, Adamawa State governor and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP candidate, was in the lead. Aside from nullifying Yunusa-announcement, Ari’s the commission yesterday banned the REC from its office while PDP members and supporters protested in the state and gave the electoral umpire a 72-hour deadline to disclose the results.
This came as a group of civil society organizations, or CSOs, condemned the political theater surrounding the extra election in Adamawa State as an attempt to destabilize Nigeria’s democracy and urged President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene. Adamawa is the only one of the 26 states whose governorship elections have not yet been completed. The first election, held on March 18, was deemed inconclusive, as was Kebbi. Nonetheless, the other additional elections were completed on April 15, but Adamawa’s ran into a new problem as a result of the suspended REC’s actions.
The INEC will convene on Tuesday or Wednesday.
When asked when the coalition would resume after the REC’s suspension, Okoye stated “the commission” would have to convene first to set a date for the exercise to restart. A meeting of “the commission” consists of the INEC Chairman and the 12 national commissioners.
According to Okoye, the majority of the national commissioners were dispatched to the states to oversee the supplementary polls last weekend and were on their way back to Abuja. “The Commission will have to meet as a Commission to make a decision on it.” The National Commissioners were stationed in several states. One was dispatched to Kebbi, one to Oyo, one to Sokoto, another to Rivers, and so forth. They are on their way to Abuja. If they arrive in Abuja tonight (Monday), the commission will most likely convene on Tuesday to decide when to resume the collation,” Okoye added.
According to commission sources, the electoral umpire does not aim to prolong the process beyond what is “legally required,” and that the collation would be completed by the end of the week in order to reduce tensions in the state.
