Adamawa: Senator Binani’s quest to make history thwarted by PDP’s Fintiri
A month after a dramatic election followed by a supplementary poll marked by controversies, fake news and violence, Senator Aishat ‘Binani’ quest to make history as the first woman in Nigerian history to be elected a governor, was thwarted by the victory of Ahmadu Fintiri, the incumbent governor of Adamawa state and Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate.
The State Returning Officer, Prof. Mohammed Mele declared Fintiri winner of the election on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, after the collation of results from 10 LGAs.
Mele said Fintiri polled 430,861 votes to defeat his closest rival Binani of the APC who polled 398,788 votes.
Adamawa was one of the states where governorship election held on March 18, 2023, but the election was declared inconclusive by INEC and April 15, 2023, was fixed for a supplementary poll.
There was confusion and violence in the state on Sunday, April 16, 2023, when the Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC in Adamawa, Hudu Yunusa, in company of some heads of security agencies in the state, declared Binani winner of the election while collation of results from the local government areas were still ongoing. The announcement led to protests and attack on INEC officials including the Returning Officer.
In a swift reaction, INEC condemned Yunusa’s action, suspended collation of results in the state and summoned the REC and Returning Officer to Abuja.
INEC said it has suspended the REC and also written to the Inspector General of Police to prosecute Yunusa for his action.
The IGP, on Tuesday, April 18, also withdrew the Commissioner of Police in the state and deployed a new CP.
Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s presidential candidate in the 2019 and 2023 elections, who also hails from Adamawa in Northeast Nigeria, condemned the delay in the announcement of the result in March when the election was first declared inconclusive.
