Adamawa Guber: Arrest, Prosecute Yunusa Ari For Usurpation Of Power, PDP Tells IGP

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to arrest and prosecute Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mallam Hudu Yunusa Ari, for usurpation of the duties and powers of the state returning officer, Prof Mohammed Mele.

The party also wants the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare its candidate, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri as the winner of the Adamawa State governorship election, having scored the majority of lawful votes cast.

PDP in a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba, noted that from the results already collated across the 69 polling units where the supplementary elections were held, “and which are on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal, Governor Fintiri clearly won the election.

Our party, therefore, demands that INEC should without further delay announce the results as already collated from the polling units and declare Governor Fintiri as the winner.

“Anything short of this will not be accepted by our party and the people of Adamawa State.”

The party accused the REC, Mallam Yunusa Ari of subversion, stating that his declaration of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Aisha Binani as the winner of the election, was calculated to cause crisis in Adamawa State, destabilise Nigeria’s democracy and peaceful co-existence of the nation.

PDP said it was absurd that the REC did not only usurp the powers of the returning officer but attempted to declare a winner without figures.

This, it added, was a violation of “the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act, 2022, INEC guidelines as well as the sensibility of the people of Adamawa State.

“This reprehensible criminal conduct of the Adamawa State REC confirms the earlier alarms by the PDP which demanded his immediate removal from Adamawa State following evidence of his complicity and being compromised by the APC and its candidate to manipulate the election in their favour notwithstanding the votes by the people of Adamawa State.”

The party, therefore, called on the IGP to immediately arrest Mallam Yunusa Ari and make him face the full wrath of the law for his conduct.

It noted the pronouncement by INEC headquarters, which declared the action of Mallam Yunusa Ari null, void and of no effect, but demanded that the commission should immediately direct the returning officer to conclude collation, announce the results from the polling units and declare the PDP candidate winner.