2023: Suspended Adamawa REC on the Run": INEC Raises Strong Alarm
- The suspended Adamawa state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Hudu Yunusa Ari is on the run, the Independent National Electoral Commission has said
- The commission noted that it has written and tried to reach Ari through his telephone all to no avail
- According to INEC, the possibility of declaring the suspended commission's REC is the responsibility of the Nigeria Police
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday, April 21, said that the suspended Adamawa state's Resident Electoral Commissioner, Hudu Yunusa Ari, has disappeared without a trace.
Daily Trust reports that Yunusa Ari is currently on the run after he was suspended by the commission for illegally declaring Aisha Binani of the All Progressives Congress the winner of the governorship election in Adamawa state while collation was still ongoing.
Source: UGC
Speaking on Yunusa Ari's disappearance, INEC's national commissioner, Festus Okoye who spoke on Channels Television said the electoral body is unaware of the suspended REC's whereabouts.
He added that the commission, immediately after the incident in Adamawa had written and called Yunusa Ari on phone but had not received a single response from him.
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Okoye's words:
“We don’t know where he is because, after this particular incident, the Commission wrote him and also called him on the phone. He never returned any of the calls, he never answered any of the calls.
“We asked him to report to the Commission on Sunday we didn’t see him, we asked him to report on Monday we didn’t see him. So up till this moment, he has not reported and we don’t know his whereabouts.”
Declaring Yunusa Ari wanted
Speaking on the possibility of declaring the suspended INEC REC wanted, Okoye said it behoves the police to take action on the matter.
He said:
“Well, that is the responsibility of the Nigerian police. If they feel that his presence is absolutely needed during the investigation and he is nowhere to be found, it is their prerogative and discretion to declare him wanted.”
Adamawa governorship election controversy: President Buhari steps in, suspends REC Ari
President Buhari has waded into the Adamawa state rerun election controversy, and oreded that the REC, Hudu Yunusa-Ari, be suspended.
Ari's troubles started when he declared Senator Aisha Dahiru Binani of the APC as the winner of the Adamawa governorship election midway into the collation of results.
INEC has since nullified the declaration made by the REC and declared Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the PDP as the winner of the election.
Adamawa election: How Ari got into trouble
Ari stirred controversy when he declared the All Progressives Congress(APC) governorship candidate, Aishatu Binani, as the winner of the re-run poll while the collation was still ongoing.
The collation had been adjourned till 11 am after results from 10 out of the 20 local government areas had been declared.
However, Ari announced the final result an hour before the scheduled time. Legit.ng gathered that Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was leading before the pronouncement was made.
Source: Legit.ng
