Buhari suspends Adamawa REC, Hudu Yunusa Ari, orders immediate prosecution

 

The federal government has suspended Hudu Yunusa-Ari, the resident electoral commissioner in Adamawa state.

 

Willie Bassey, director of information in the office of the secretary to the government of the federation, said in a statement on Thursday, that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the immediate suspension of Yunusa-Ari pending the completion of an investigation by Usman Baba Alkali, the inspector general of police on the conduct/actions of the REC during the supplementary election in Adamawa.

 

According to the statement, Buhari also directed that the REC be prosecuted if found culpable after the investigation.

 

“Also, the President has directed investigation by the Inspector General of Police, Director-General of the Department of State Services, and the Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, of the role of their officers in aiding and abetting the conduct/actions of Barr. Hudu Yunusa Ari and if found culpable, appropriate disciplinary actions, to be meted out to them,” the statement reads.

 

In a letter on Monday, INEC asked Yunusa-Ari, to stay away from its office in the state and directed the administrative secretary to take full charge of affairs in Adamawa with immediate effect.

 

The commission had also said it would write the inspector-general of police, to investigate and prosecute Yunusa-Ari.

 

BACKGROUND

The Adamawa governorship supplementary election was conducted on Saturday following the declaration of the March 18 poll as inconclusive over alleged irregularities.

 

The collation of election results was suspended till Sunday after results from 10 LGAs were announced.

 

But Yunusa-Ari had declared Aisha ‘Binani’ Dahiru, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the election when results from all the LGAs were yet to be collated.

 

The announcement of the results triggered protests in Adamawa with members of the PDP in the state staging a demonstration, marching through the streets of Yola, the state’s capital.

 

INEC  discontinued the exercise and described the REC’s action as null and void.

 

The electoral body said the declaration of a winner is the responsibility of the returning officer and invited the REC, the returning officer, and all those involved in the collation process to its headquarters in Abuja.

 

On Tuesday, INEC resumed the collation process and declared Ahmadu Fintiri, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the winner of the governorship election.