Adamawa: Who is responsible for announcing election winner? Here’s what the law says
The Adamawa Supplementary election, held on Saturday, April 15, 2023, has generated buzz across the country, following the controversial declaration of Senator Aishatu Dahiru ’Binani’ of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the gubernatorial poll by Barrister Hudu Yunusa, the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner.
In the contentious announcement, Yunusa, on Sunday, April 16, 2023, declared Dahiru as governor-elect without the conclusion of the election process.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in a swift reaction, annulled the declaration, suspended the collation of results, and described Yunusa’s action as a “usurpation of the power of the Returning Officer and, therefore, null, void, and of no effect.”
Does a REC have the power to announce election results and declare a winner?
Here’s what the law says:
According to Section 25 (2) of the Electoral Act (2022), the declaration of a winner of a governorship election is vested in the Returning Officer of that State.
The law states that:
“The returning officer shall announce the result and declare the winner of the election at the State Collation Centre in the case of the election of a Governor of a State.”
While RECs are staff of the electoral body, State Returning Officers are INEC ad-hoc staff who are usually Vice-Chancellors of Federal Universities appointed by INEC’s National Office in Abuja to oversee the election process at the state level. The RECs are responsible for supervising the elections in a state, recruiting and training election staff, and delivering sensitive and non-sensitive materials to electoral officials during the election.
Controversies have trailed Adamawa’s gubernatorial election, which is keenly being contested between Senator Dahiru and the incumbent governor of the state and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ahmadu Fintiri.
On March 20, 2023, INEC declared the election inconclusive, citing that the margin between the two candidates was lesser than the total number of collected PVCs in the areas where elections were not held, and a supplementary election was held on Saturday to determine the winner of the election. However, following the controversial declaration of Senator Dahiru by REC, the commission has announced the suspension of collations of results in the State.
“The collation of the result of the supplementary election held yesterday, April 15, 2023, is suspended forthwith,” the statement reads in part.
INEC also added that Yunusa and all other officials involved in the process had been directed to report to INEC’s headquarters in Abuja.
