The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged a new plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to manipulate results of the March 18 Adamawa State governorship elections, using the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). INEC had declared the election inconclusive due to the margin of votes be- tween the two major candidates. Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the PDP polled 421,524 votes while APC’s Aishatu Binani scored 390,275 votes. Spokesman Debo Ologunagba at a press conference in Abuja on Monday alleged that the APC has been mounting pressure on INEC to alter the results.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yanusa Ari was allegedly caught on tape directing the electoral officer of the Fufore Local Government Area in Hausa to alter results in favour of Binani. Ologunagba, who de- scribed the alleged action of the REC as “reprehensible, sacrilegious, profane and unbecoming of an electoral officer”, called on INEC to immediately fire him and hand him over to the police for a thorough investigation and prosecution. The APC claimed that Binani boasted that she has the REC and returning officer on her side and is willing to manipulate the results in her favour. It said: “Such reported boasting by the APC candidate is in complete effrontery to the democratic right and will of the people of Adamawa State to choose their leaders.
“This is evidence of the arrogance, contempt and disdain to which the APC holds the people of the Adamawa State. “As declared by INEC, the final tabulation of results from the polling units, Fintiri is in a clear lead with 31,299 lawful votes above the defeated Binani, who has been desperate to compromise the election against the expressed will of the good people of Adamawa State
.” The PDP had earlier claimed that the APC and some INEC officials attempted to move the collation of results of the election from Yola to Abuja to enable the returning officer to declare Binani the winner. Ologunagba said when that plot failed, the APC pressured INEC to cancel results in 69 polling units, citing over-voting. He said: “Having realised that they cannot defeat Governor Fintiri in the 69 polling units, given his popularity and determination of the people, (the APC and its candidate) are now putting pressure on INEC to alter already collated and declared results in other polling units where no cases of malpractice or disruption of election took place.
“This is part of APC’s plot to facilitate the manipulation and/or alteration of the already declared results in favour of the APC candidate against the expressed will of the people.”
The party warned against altering the results already announced. Ologunagba said: “INEC should note its responsibility under the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC issued guidelines, that elections are conducted at the polling units where results are required by law to be counted, declared and directly transmitted onto the INEC Server/IReV.”
