Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State has advocated for the prosecution of individuals engaging in deliberate electoral fraud across the nation. Expressing his disbelief over the premature declaration of his opponent as the winner before the completion of the electoral process, Governor Fintiri, in a statewide address on Monday, asserted that such blatant actions should face legal consequences.
While acknowledging the impartiality of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in conducting last year’s elections, he strongly objected to the conduct of the suspended resident electoral commissioner, Hudu Ari-Yunusa, who prematurely declared a winner by usurping the role of the returning officer.
“As for those who connived with the REC to make us pass through those democratically embarrassing moments, I want to assure you once again, that we owe it a duty to prosecute all of them according to the dictates of the law,” Fintiri said in his broadcast Monday afternoon.
“This is the only way we can protect our electoral process and democratic culture from undue abuse,” the governor added.
Recalls that Hudu had declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress in that election, Senator Aishatu Ahmed (Binani), as the winner while collation was ongoing.
He was suspended by INEC and is currently facing charges over his actions.
Meanwhile, as part of his Monday broadcast to the Adamawa people, Fintiri who was officially addressing his people for the first time after his Supreme Court victory of last Wednesday, said the favourable judgement is a motivation for him and other members of his government to serve the people even better.
He asked all Adamawa people to join him in the task, saying, “The litigants and everyone that has Adamawa at heart should set aside whatever misgivings and move on. We have wasted enough time. We have raised false hopes and rendered enough havoc to the anxious psyche of our supporters.
“We have inflicted enough injury to our bond and unity as a people. I am saying now, enough is enough! There is a limit to what falsehood can achieve. Adamawa state is greater than each one of us. The task ahead is enormous, requiring unity of purpose, a pooling of resources, integration of talents, and leveraging the unique attributes of each of us, to reinvent a better society for our people.”
