ADAMAWA FIASCO: CACOL CALLS ON INEC TO INVESTIGATE ALL THOSE INVOLVED.
19th April, 2023
Press Release
ADAMAWA FIASCO: CACOL CALLS ON INEC TO INVESTIGATE ALL THOSE INVOLVED.
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to investigate and possibly prosecute the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Adamawa State, Hudu Yunusa-Ari.
The call was premised on Yunusa-Ari’s declaration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Senator Aisha Dahiru, popularly known as Binani, as the governor-elect in Saturday’s supplementary election. Yunusa-Ari had announced Binani as the winner of the supplementary polls while the collation of the results was underway, causing confusion in the state and drawing consternation across the country. However, according to the electoral law, the announcement should have been made by the returning officer of the election, who is a different person, usually an academic appointed by INEC for that purpose.
In a press release issued by the anti-graft coalition’s Director for Administration and Programmes, Tola Oresanwo on behalf of its Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran, he noted, “Like every other democrat and peace-loving Nigerians, we were appalled by the drama played out in Adamawa state as an aftermath of the just concluded supplementary election in the state. The funny aspect of the whole drama is that the person who is supposed to be an unbiased arbiter and the repository of all electoral laws and guidelines in the state is the one at the centre of the melodrama.”
“It is a known fact that all the dramatis personae in the drama playing out in the state especially the politicians have their supporters who would want them to win at all cost but it is an anomaly to find an INEC official who is holding such a highly esteemed position in the middle of the storm.”
“We at CACOL, will like to reiterate that to protect the sanctity of the electoral process, INEC officials must be above board in all their dealings, they must be people whose hearts cannot be bought with money or other material things, they must also be patriotic individuals who will always put the interest of the country above their personal or selfish gains.
The anti-corruption Crusader said, “By his action, many voters in the state would have lost confidence in the whole election and their hope for a free, fair and transparent election would have been eroded.”
“We would therefore call on INEC not only to nullify the illegal declaration, and suspend the REC for Adamawa state but also take urgent actions to protect the integrity of the electoral process in the state. The Nigeria Police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) should investigate what transpired during the Adamawa State supplementary governorship election in its entirety. The allegation that the REC received a two billion Naira (N2bn) bribe to announce Binani as the winner should be thoroughly investigated and anyone found culpable in the illegality including the security officers who aided and abetted the crime should be made to face the full wrath of the law. If Binani herself is involved, she should not be spared it doesn’t matter what moral meanings anyone could read into it, since nobody is above the law, once a crime has been proven to be committed, all those involved should be made to face the consequences of their actions no matter their status on the social ladder.”
Tola Oresanwo
Director, Administration and Programmes, CACOL
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