By Gideon Njoku
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, President-elect, has urged the Police to institute a full investigation into the Adamawa Governorship Supplementary Poll which winner was announced on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
The supplementary poll was held on Saturday, 15 April between incumbent Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Aishatu Dahiru Binani of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
But the outcome was marred, almost, by the confusion caused by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Hudu Yunisa Ari, who announced Binani as Governor-elect while collation of votes was still on-going, with Fintiri in a comfortable lead.
INEC Headquarters quickly contained the embarrassment by cancelling Binani’s declaration as winner, and dismissed it as null, void and of no consequence.
It, also, invited both Ari and the INEC Returning Officer, Professor Mohammed Mele, whose job Ari usurped and announced the result, to Abuja, after it suspended Ari from office on Monday.
Professor Mele, in the authentic result on Tuesday, declared Fintiri Governor-elect, while INEC invited the Police to arrest Ari.
Reacting to the embarrassing incident, Tinubu, in a statement he personally signed, urged the Police to institute a thorough investigation into the debacle.
He said, “With the conclusion of the 2023 elections, I now welcome all of us who have been elected to brace up to serve our people with diligence and dedication and to join hands with me as your President-elect in the pursuit of our agenda to renew the hopes of our people in a better, stronger, more secure, economically vibrant and prosperous Nigeria.
“I congratulate the winners of the Supplementary Governorship elections held in Kebbi and Adamawa States on Saturday, April 15, 2023.
“I also rejoice with those elected into the Senate, House of Representatives and State Houses of Assembly during the last round of elections in states where such took place.
“These victorious men and women have earned the trust of their people and I call on them to rededicate themselves to the service of their respective constituents.
“The supplementary polls have now brought the 2023 elections to a final, fitting conclusion.
“I observed, with satisfaction, the largely peaceful atmosphere that pervaded the supplementary election on Saturday. It was a further testimony that our citizens have accepted democratic norms and have unalloyed faith in the electoral process.”
Commenting on Adamawa, the President-elect said:
“I note the matter of Adamawa Supplementary Governorship Election and I urge police authorities to fully investigate all that transpired in the election given the attendant controversy.
“In every democratic contest there has to be one winner. I call on those aggrieved to pursue legitimate means of addressing their grievances.”
President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to comment on the Adamawa incident, but not a few Nigerians have urged for the prosecution of Ari.
