Adamawa Govt Tackles Sacked REC, Ari On Outcome Of 2023 Gov. Election

By Ayodele Oni

Adamawa State Government has insisted that the sacked Resident Electoral Commissioner, (REC) in the state, Hudu Ari lacked the power whatsoever to make a declaration in any election conducted in the state.

The state government while reacting to the insistence of the former REC that it was Aisha Binani that won the 2023 governorship election in the state on Sunday,  dismissed the claim.

Ari, who was recently sacked from his position as a Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa State by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, maintained that he has documentary evidence to show that Senator Aisha Binani won the 2023 governorship election in the State.

Ari, who stated this few days after the National Assembly approved his sack as a Commissioner with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), following the controversies that trailed the conduct of the elections, swore with Quran before journalists that Senator Binani won the controversial election and not Governor Ahmadu Umar Fintiri.

An enraged Ari told journalists in his private residence in Bauchi on Saturday evening that he has all necessary documentary evidence to support his claim that Binani defeated Governor Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the rounds of the elections.

However, a statement by Mr Solomon Kumangar, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Strategy, stressed that the sacked REC, who has turned himself to fugitive, has never substantiated this assertion.

The Adamawa State Government specifically stated that Hudu Ari as a REC, lacked the power whatsoever and in any material particular to make a declaration in any election conducted in Adamawa.

Kumanga added that the provisions of the Electoral laws ensured that every election has a Returning Officer, who is mainly an ad-hoc staff member of the commission.

He noted that the dismissed REC, Hudu Yunusa Ari, repeated a known lie that Binani, not Fintiri, won 2023 polls before journalists on Saturday.

According to Kumanga; “INEC rogue REC Hudu Yunusa Ari repeated a lie he told two years ago. He asserted that Binani, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the 2023 gubernatorial election in Adamawa, won the 2023 polls, not Fintiri.”

Kumanga further said that the regulations guiding the 2023 elections in Nigeria, was unambiguous as no INEC REC could return a candidate, stressing that the partisanship of the dismissed REC, Hudu  Ari, was so glaring that he violated the oath of office he took to remain apolitical and neutral.

“Ari was caught on tape begging a local government returning officer to help a woman. He further claimed the directive was from above. Despite Hudu’s rhetoric, he could not provide any evidence of the result he used in the illegal declaration.

“Finally, no court prevents Ari from testifying; it was the petitioner’s side that withdrew Hudu from testifying at the election petition tribunal, having known that the REC lacks power to make a return in any election.

“In addition, if Ari claims he was prevented from appearing in court, he should please come out of hiding, as there is still a pending case against him at the Adamawa State High Court; this is an avenue for him to come clean.

The statement stressed that there was no basis whatsoever for Ari to claims that Binani won the 2023 election in Adamawa State.