By Ogochukwu Isioma
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and incumbent Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, as the winner of the Adamawa State governorship election.
METROWATCHXTRA.COM reports that Fintiri polled a total of 430,861 votes, at the end of the Saturday’s supplementary election. He got 9,337 votes, the highest number of valid votes in the supplementary election, out of the about 16,000 total votes cast.
He defeated Senator Aisha ‘Binani’ Dahiru, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who came second with a total of 398,788 votes. Unlike Fintiri, Binani managed to garner 6,514 votes out of the about 16,000 votes in the supplementary poll.
Earlier, INEC announced suspension of collation of results for the supplementary poll after the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa Ari, controversially declared Binani winner, while the election process was still on.
The electoral umpire subsequently voided the declaration by the embattled REC, noting that the action was an “usurpation of the powers” of the Returning Officer. INEC further directed Ari to stay away from all activities relating to the election and from its Adamawa office.
The final collation of results from the Saturday’s supplementary election and declaration of Fintiri as winner was formally concluded late Tuesday afternoon in the absence of the embattled REC.
Meanwhile, INEC has written to the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba to investigate and prosecute Barr. Hudu Yunusa Ari, the commission’s embattled Adamawa REC, for his actions.
