PRESIDENT-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday asked the Police to investigate the controversy that trailed the Adamawa State governorship re-run, urging aggrieved candidates to pursue legitimate means of addressing their grievances.
Tinubu gave the charge in a post-election assessment statement he personally signed, yesterday, as Adamawa State governor-elect, Umaru Fintiri, supported moves to prosecute the alleged perpetrators of what he described as the criminality behind the drama that played out at the governorship rerun.
This is even as the Federal Government, yesterday, said President Muhammadu Buhari did not intervene in the governorship drama in Adamawa State because the matter was within the purview of the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to handle.
Tinubu spoke as the Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi, summoned Adamawa State Commandant, Muhammad Bello, to the Corps headquarters in Abuja to explain his role in Sunday’s failed attempt by the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Hudu Yunusa-Ari, to usurp powers of the Chief Returning Officer in unilaterally declaring the All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate, Aisha Dahiru, also known as Binani, as governor-elect.
On Tuesday, the Inspector-General of Police IGP, Usman Baba Alkali, redeployed Adamawa State Police Commissioner, CP Mohammed Barde, over his role in the election saga.
Tinubu salutes winners, tasks them with service to constituents
Tinubu, who congratulated winners of Kebbi and Adamawa supplementary governorship elections, said: “I also rejoice with those elected into the Senate, House of Representatives and State Houses of Assembly during the last round of elections in states where such took place.
‘’These victorious men and women have earned the trust of their people and I call on them to rededicate themselves to the service of their respective constituents.
“The supplementary polls have now brought the 2023 elections to a final, fitting conclusion. I observed, with satisfaction, the largely peaceful atmosphere that pervaded the supplementary election on Saturday.
‘’It was further testimony that our citizens have accepted democratic norms and have unalloyed faith in the electoral process.
“However, I note the matter of the Adamawa supplementary governorship election and I urge police authorities to fully investigate all that transpired in the election, given the attendant controversy.
‘’In every democratic contest, there has to be one winner. I call on those aggrieved to pursue legitimate means of addressing their grievances.
“With the conclusion of the 2023 elections, I now welcome all of us who have been elected to brace up to serve our people with diligence and dedication and to join hands with me as your President-elect in the pursuit of our agenda to renew the hopes of our people in a better, stronger, more secure, economically vibrant and prosperous Nigeria.”
Fintiri seeks prosecution of ‘criminality’ behind the poll drama
Also, Fintiri, who collected his certificate of return alongside other elected candidates, yesterday, insisted that those who tried to undermine the electoral process in Adamawa must be prosecuted.
The INEC declared Fintiri, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate, winner on Tuesday amid political intrigue that saw his closest rival, Senator Aishatu ‘Binani’ Dahiru of the APC being declared the winner on Sunday, while collation was still underway.
“I think everybody has learnt his lesson,” Fintiri said during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, last night after his victory was made official.
“INEC itself, as an umpire, has learnt a lot of lessons and it has corrected its wrongs so that it can protect itself as an institution.
“The police that is supposed to protect democracy became caught up in the whole saga. It’s unfortunate. It’s a disgrace.
“But I think everybody is picking up and they are trying to correct their wrongs. Time will tell if these people will be properly prosecuted. But if they don’t prosecute this criminality that took place in Adamawa State, I am going to prosecute them.”
He did not identify those he thought should be prosecuted.
However, INEC had since resolved to write the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, to probe and prosecute the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in Adamawa State, Hudu Ari.
Similarly, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba Alkali, ordered the immediate replacement of the Commissioner of Police on election duty in Adamawa, Mohammed Barde, with his counterpart in Gombe State, CP Etim Equa.
Asked to share his perspective on a rare instance of a governorship race with a woman as a front-runner, Fintiri argued that Binani was not the one he ran against.
“I don’t think I have run against any woman in Adamawa State. I ran against enemies of democracy outside Adamawa State and their gang-up has not got anywhere. I think, for now, we give God the glory,” he said.
On who was ganging up against him and why, the governor said: “They decided to be enemies of democracy and the only scapegoat they could find is in Adamawa State. They wanted to put a woman (from) their party, forgetting that we have performed excellently well in Adamawa State, our people love us.” (Vanguard)
