The 2023 general elections have come and gone but the dust is yet to settle for many of the political actors who are looking up to the courts to resolve some of the issues that could not be conclusively decided on election day due to infractions of the process. At the last count, well over 400 election petitions are before tribunals across the country.
While the nation’s political space is still reeling from the controversies thrown up by the failure of the election management body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to strictly follow its guidelines in returning a winner in the presidential election, the illegal activities of some electoral officials and some security agents (who were supposed to be impartial arbiters among the contending candidates) and some desperate politicians in Adamawa State marked a new low in the level of irregularities observed during the general elections.
Following the March 18, 2023 state governorship election, Adamawa was one of the states which had inconclusive polls when it was observed in Fufore local government that the number of cancelled votes exceeded the margin of lead between the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) candidate and incumbent Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, and his closest rival, Senator Aishatu Dahiru Binani of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Supplementary election was, therefore, declared for April 15, 2023. The election was of interest to many in and outside the state due to the possibility of history being made as Senator Binani of the APC had a chance of becoming the first elected female governor in Nigeria, though she was trailing the incumbent governor. However, the excitement around the Adamawa polls would soon evaporate and be replaced with shock and recrimination at the flagrant and wilful breach of the electoral law when, midway into the collation of the results, the Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Hudu Yunusa Ari, infamously pulled off a rascally and dangerous stunt: he usurped the duty of the state returning officer and illegally declared Senator Binani winner of the election.
Buhari Approves Suspension Of Adamawa REC Yunusa-Ari
In the drama that ensued the day after the election, that is Sunday, 16 April, collation and returning officers at the state collation centre in the state capital, Yola, had called the poll results from 10 of the affected local government areas and Governor Fintiri was holding a healthy lead. The state returning officer, Prof Mele Lamido, then called a recess for continuation of collation to resume by 11am, but before the stated time of resumption, REC Yunusa Ari stole into the centre and announced Senator Binani winner without declaring any of the outstanding collated results from the remaining 10 local governments, throwing the whole process into confusion. And as if on cue, Senator Binani quickly read her acceptance speech on national television.
Commendably, the INEC headquarters immediately annulled her declaration as winner, recalled the REC and subsequently concluded the collation process, with the Adamawa State returning officer, Prof Mele Lamido , declaring Fintiri the rightful winner of the election.
As a newspaper, we deplore the illegal activities of Yunusa Ari and his accomplices – some security chiefs who provided cover for him to execute his attempted electoral coup which could have led to the breakdown of law and order in Adamawa. The brazenness of their conduct smacks of desperation seen in persons who are either compromised, partisan or feel that the law is useless.
Also condemnable is the presidency’s penchant for appointing questionable persons to sensitive positions requiring credibility and impartiality. We recall that just like in the case of Mrs Lauretta Onochie, a former evidently partisan aide of the president, Yunusa Ari was one of the last batch of RECs that civil society organisations raised the red flag over their appointment due to their political affiliation with the ruling party, yet the presidency and the Senate went ahead to approve them for the job.
As a newspaper, we aver that this open and flagrant breach of the law cannot go unpunished. By now, the actors in this macabre dance should have all been arrested. We align with the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari that REC Yunusa Ari should be investigated and prosecuted if found culpable as well as the heads of the police, Civil Defence and DSS in Adamawa State, for their possible complicity.
However, the probe should go further to include Senator Binani for her part in the illegality. As a seasoned lawmaker, she was well aware of the provisions of the electoral law and that what REC Yunusa Ari was handing her was a stolen mandate, yet she went along with it, betraying the win-at-all-costs attitude of desperate politicians. The viral video of a senior official of the DSS confessing that N2 billion was given to him to bribe the REC and Senator Binani’s allegation that some electoral officials had been compromised by her rival only point to the need to widen the scope of the investigation to bring every offender to justice.
Finally, we commend the judiciary for refusing to be used by Senator Binani who had sought a court order to stop the conclusion of the electoral process. That singular step has helped to bring a closure to the attempted electoral coup in Adamawa.
