What played out last weekend in Adamawa State during the
supplementary gubernatorial poll can best be described as
attempts by desperate politicians to subvert democracy and
undermine the will of the people. The electoral heist must be
totally condemned in all its ramifications.
In the show of shame in broad daylight, the whole world was shocked to see the Resident
Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa-Ari, on television illegally announcing Senator
Aishat “Binani” Dahiru, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of
the election when results from 10 local councils were still being expected. How low can we get?
The electoral law does not recognise RECs to collate and announce election results in the
states; that is the job of the Returning Officer. So, what Yunusa-Ari did was brazen, illegal and it
could only have been inspired by an animal boldness of the worst kind.
Instead of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) summoning Yunusa-Ari to
Abuja, he should have been arrested in Yola immediately and made to face the full wrath of the
law. What happened next is even more shocking: Senator BInani, whom Yunusa-Ari declared
illegally as the winner, read an acceptance speech, thanking the people of Adamawa State for
electing her.
That was a lie from the pit of hell; she was not elected because she did not win the election.
Binani is desperate to set a record as the first female governor in Nigeria but she has to be
properly elected – not through the backdoor, subterfuge or illegality.
We may have seen bad behaviours displayed by politicians in the past but what Senator Binani
and her enablers did at a time we are trying to improve on the electoral process takes the cake.
How far will politicians go in the theatre of the absurd?
On top of this travesty, Binani approached a High Court in Abuja, seeking a judicial review in an
attempt to stop INEC from voiding her illegal declaration as the “winner” of the governorship poll
as announced by Yunusa-Ari.
I have never seen anything like this before. If we truly want to be honest with ourselves,
politicians are the biggest threats to our democracy.
What the Adamawa REC and Binani have done should come with consequences; otherwise it
will become a standard playbook for other politicians who do not have any sense of shame or
higher purpose.
Because of Yunusa-Ari’s egregious conduct, another national commissioner deployed to
Adamawa for the supplementary poll, was beaten black and blue and then stripped naked. It
was clearly a case of the anger of the mob.
Yunusa-Ari appeared defiant on the day he made the illegal announcement in the presence of
security personnel. He was confronted by onlookers in the room that he had no powers to
announce the winner. He was also reminded that it was the holy month of Ramadan – the ninth
month of the Muslim year, during which strict fasting, prayer and deep reflections are observed
from dawn to sunset.
In his desperation, the Adamawa REC who has now been disowned by INEC set aside all the
entreaties and spiritual injunctions. There must have been something in it for him to have taken
such risk for a zero-sum game.
Before the supplementary governorship elections in Kebbi and Adamawa States, INEC had
been in the eye of the storm. The reputation of the electoral umpire had taken severe beating
arising from the previous elections in February and March.
INEC had the opportunity to redeem its image but, apparently, the likes of Yunusa-Ari with his
gang of co-conspirators had other plans. There is now palpable tension in Adamawa State
which could lead to a breakdown of law and order. This situation must be addressed
immediately by the security agencies.
The position now is that INEC is working very hard to do damage control. Last Sunday, the
electoral body announced that the REC illegally announced the winner which was declared null
and void.
In order to calm frayed nerves, INEC suspended the collation of results and the supplementary
election. INEC’s statement did not leave anyone in doubt. “The attention of the Commission has
been drawn to a purported declaration of a winner in the Adamawa Governorship election by the
Resident Electoral Commissioner even when the process has not been concluded.
“The action of the REC is a usurpation of the power of the Returning Officer. It is null and void
and of no effect. Consequently, the collation of the results of the supplementary election is
hereby suspended.”
But INEC has a duty to the Adamawa people to conclude the process and announce the winner
without further delay so that by May 29, the winner would be inaugurated and sworn into office
like his colleagues.
However, the facts of the matter must stand. Before the collation exercise was suspended on
Saturday night, Binani was nowhere near winning the election as she was trailing Ahmadu
Fintiri, the incumbent governor and candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). By this
time, results from 10 local councils had been announced.
Nigerians should disregard the announcement by Yunusa-Ari and allow INEC to conclude the
process. In the meantime, no one has told us where Mele Lamido, the Returning Officer, has
been hiding; he just disappeared into thin air.
Was he part of the plot to sabotage the will of the people of Adamawa State? Could it be that
the RO did not agree with the REC to announce Binani as the winner without results from all the
69 polling units?
The drama in Adamawa State happens in other states and it is a reflection of our inverted value
system: we condone impunity without consequences and it has gone to great lengths to
damage the moral fabric of society.
For example, why would a parent buy exam question papers for his/her children to gain undue
advantage? The same parent will also join those accusing INEC of improper conduct of our
elections. Isn’t that hypocrisy?
This is the time INEC should bark and bite at the same time. It has acted well in this matter so
far. After the meeting of its National Commissioners in Abuja which held on April 18 over the
supplementary governorship election in Adamawa State, INEC resolved to write the Inspector
General of Police for the immediate investigation and possible prosecution of Yunusa-Ari who,
by the way, is a lawyer.
How can a lawyer superintend over such travesty and be the lead actor in a poorly scripted
drama? What action is the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) going to take?
The electoral body will also write to Boss Mustapha, the secretary to the government of the
federation (SGF), to inform President Muhammadu Buhari that his appointee, Yunusa-Ari, has
been “unworthy” of the appointment as Adamawa State REC. His “unwholesome behaviour”
should be reported by the SGF for further action.
We are all witnesses to the disgraceful conduct of politicians even in their parties where there’s
complete absence of internal democracy. The Labour Party has also joined APC and PDP in
poor housekeeping manners because if you have been following the political developments in
Imo State, Labour Party has two factions (Ikechukwu Ukaegbu and Chibutu Isiguzo factions
laying claims to the ticket) in the run-up to the party’s primary to elect its gubernatorial
candidate.
With parallel primaries, the factions usually end up in court because politicians are generally
bad losers – everyone wants to win. How’s that possible?
If party primaries are fraught with rigging and violence, what then should we expect at the state
and national elections? Are they not the same people?
When the outcomes of our elections are poor, we are quick to blame INEC instead of desperate
politicians and their supporters. What in the world was Yunusa-Ari thinking when he declared
Binani as the winner of the Adamawa governorship poll? Was he expecting Nigerians to clap for
him?
He should have emulated the Returning Officer in the Abia State gubernatorial election, Prof
Nnennaya Oti, vice chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) which
Alex Otti won. This amazing amazon refused to be intimated even at the risk to her life; she
stood her ground and the will of Abia voters prevailed.
But Yunusa-Ari couldn’t because he sold his conscience for a mess of porridge.
Braimah is a public relations strategist and publisher/editor-in-chief of Naija Times
(https://naijatimes.ng)