Who Sponsored Electoral Coup in Adamawa?

With the failed attempt by the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner in Adamawa State, Hudu Yunusa-Ari, to impose the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Aishatu Dahiru, better known as Binani, on the people of the state in an electoral coup, Ejiofor  Alike writes that the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, should arrest and prosecute Yunusa and all the security chiefs in the state, who provided cover for the REC to allay the strong suspicion that the leaderships of the various security agencies backed the ignoble attempt to undermine Nigeria’s democracy

As part of the month-long intrigues to manipulate the results of the governorship election in Adamawa State in favour of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Aishatu Dahiru, better known as Binani, the then Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Mr Hudu Yunusa-Ari, had on Sunday usurped the power of the Returning Officer and declared Binani as the winner of the poll without waiting for the collation of the results to be concluded.

The REC’s action was viewed as an electoral coup in the sense that Binani was clearly losing the election to the Adamawa State Governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ahmadu Fintiri, coupled with the fact that only the Returning Officer (RO) is empowered by law to declare the results of a governorship election and not the REC.

According to the results of the election held on March 18, Fintiri was leading Binani with over 30,000 votes, having polled 421,524 votes against the APC candidate’s 390,275 votes.

But in a strange twist, the Returning Officer, Prof. Mohammed Mele, announced the cancellation of elections in 69 polling units in Fufore LGA, which affected no fewer than 37,016 potential voters.

In accordance with the electoral law, INEC declared the election inconclusive on the grounds that the cancelled votes were more than the margin of victory recorded in favour of the governor.

At the end of the first round of the collation of the April 15 supplementary poll, Fintiri was leading with over 1,500 votes in the 11 LGAs collated, apart from the over 30,000 votes margin in his favour.

The final round of the collation was adjourned by the Returning Officer to Sunday, April 16, at 11.00 a.m.

But at about 9a.m on April 16, and in the absence of the RO, the REC stormed the collation venue with the Commissioner of Police on election duty in the state, Mohammed Barde, and made the unconstitutional announcement of the winner without relying on any result. 

When the tension rose very high following the REC’s insistence to announce the fake results, two of the agents of the political parties present moved to the high table and pleaded with him, reminding him that as Muslim who was fasting, he should fear God.

“The Returning Officer is not here. No, you are not the Returning Officer. Wait for the Returning Officer; let us hear what all the (political) parties got. Let us fear the Almighty God, please. I respect you as a father, you can’t do this. You are fasting and the Almighty Allah is watching you; fear Allah; fear Allah,” one of the agents told the REC.

At this point, CP Barde stood up and ordered the party agents to stay away from the high table.

When the coast appeared to have been cleared by the CP, the REC also stood up and declared Binani as winner amid protests.

The electoral coup was another instance of security agencies’ connivance to undermine free, fair and credible electoral process in the country as the CP and other security chiefs openly provided cover for the REC.

In what many described as a desperate quest to emerge as first elected female governor in Nigeria, and in subversion of the electoral process and the will of the people, Binani quickly delivered an acceptance speech.

But in a prompt reaction, INEC nullified her purported victory and also withdrew the REC from the state.

In a similar vein, the Inspector-General of Police (IG), Usman Alkali Baba, ordered CP Barde out of the state, and replaced him with the Commissioner of Police in charge of Gombe State, Etim Equa.

But Binani did not give up as she rushed to court to argue that only election tribunal can constitutionally nullify her victory, apparently in line with the script of her backers, who might have misled her to believe that his opponent would be asked to go to the tribunal once she was declared as winner.

However, her traducers quickly reminded her that no result was lawfully declared as the collation was yet to be concluded even as the REC who made the purported declaration has no such power under the law.

Expectedly, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja refused to hear her ex-parte application, and thereafter adjourned the suit till April 26.

At the end of the successful collation of results, INEC on Tuesday, declared Fintiri as winner and subsequently issued him with a Certificate of Return.

According to the results announced by the Returning Officer, Mele, Fintiri polled 430,861 votes to defeat Binani, who scored 398,788 votes.

Having successfully foiled the electoral coup, the IG should bring the principal plotters to book.

A Bauchi Islamic cleric, Dr. Idris Abdulaziz, had described Yunusa, an indigene of the state, as a disgrace to the state and the same can also be said of all the principal plotters of the electoral coup.

The Commandant General of the NSCDC, Ahmed Audi, had on Wednesday done the needful by removing the Adamawa Commandant of the agency, Muhammad Bello and summoning him to Abuja to give the details of his role in the illegal declaration.

The IG should arrest and prosecute CP Barde, Bello and the heads of other security agencies that provided cover for Yunusa.

This will serve as a deterrent to power-drunk security chiefs who may plot to truncate Nigeria’s democracy.

It will also dispel the strong speculation that the leaderships of the security agencies backed the shameful roles of these compromised security officials.

Hours after Yunusa’s illegal declaration, a video of a DSS deputy director had surfaced online showing the said official confessing that Binani gave N2 billion bribe to be announced as the winner.

Though Binani had denied the allegations, insisting that the officer of the DSS made “very bizarre, unfounded wild allegations” against her, the police should also quiz her.

 INEC had also last Thursday denied the allegation of partisanship in the election, but the electoral umpire created suspicion when it awarded over N430 million contract for the printing of sensitive election materials to Binani Printing Press, a company allegedly founded by Binani.

There were speculations that INEC and the APC were neck-deep in the saga but the commission washed its hands off when Justice Ekwo refused to grant an ex-parte order to void the nullification of the REC’s action.

In line with the call by the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, in his congratulatory message to Fintiri, the police authorities should fully investigate all that transpired in the election.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s last Thursday’s approval of the suspension of Yunusa, as well as his marching order to the IG, the Director General of DSS, and the Commandant General of the NSCDC to probe the role of their officers in the saga should also be enforced immediately.