Adamawa State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has affirmed the election of Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri as the duly elected Governor of the state in the March 18, 2023 governorship election.
LEADERSHIP recalls that
after the Adamawa State governorship election, which dragged into a supplementary poll and some controversial moments, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared incumbent Governor Fintiri, who sought reelection, as the winner of the exercise.
At the end of the drama-filled exercise, which ended in April, Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), polled 430,861 votes, defeating Aisha ‘Binani’ Dahiru of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who got 398,738 votes.
Binani and some other contestants had approached the Tribunal seeking the nullification of the victory of Fintiri, but the court on Saturday upheld the second term victory of the incumbent governor.
Recall that the then Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the State, Hudu Yunusa-Ari, had courted controversy after the supplementary election on April 15, 2023, when he unilaterally announced ‘Binani’ as the winner of the dramatic poll while the collation of results was ongoing and the absence of the Returning Officer.
The situation had prompted INEC to nullify Yunusa-Ari’s decision and suspended him while the then President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a full-scale investigation into the development.
INEC had thereafter concluded the election and announced Fintiri as the authentic winner of the drama-filled poll.
