Hudu Yunusa Ari, the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner for Adamawa State, has broken his silence on the controversial declaration of Aishatu Dahiru, popularly known as Binani of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the governorship election.
Ari was suspended by the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) after his illegal declaration of Binani as the
winner, which was contrary to the Electoral Act. INEC later declared Ahmadu
Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the authentic winner of the
election after following due process.
Ari, in a recent letter to the Inspector
General of Police, claimed that he acted within the ambit of the law. He stated
that the results to be announced by the INEC Collation Officer differed from
the copies he signed and uploaded on the Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
He also alleged that attempts were made to
replace him with his secretary, and accused two national commissioners of
meeting with Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri at the Government House, Yola,
during the supplementary election.
“It was based on this that I compiled all the
polling unit results and declared the election winner based on the highest
number of valid votes scored by the candidate of the APC,” Ari stated.
“I had the breakdown of the valid votes
scored by the two leading candidates in the supplementary election, using the
results from the polling units as collated into all relevant forms EC8B, C, D
and E respectively by properly and legally appointed and recognised collation
officers and my humble self as the Adamawa State Chief Collation Officer and
Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC).”
Meanwhile, INEC has denied claims of its
officials meeting with Fintiri during the supplementary election. INEC had
previously asked the Inspector-General of Police and necessary security
agencies to investigate and prosecute Ari for his role in the illegal
declaration of Binani as the winner of the governorship election.
Post a Comment