PDP calls for immediate arrest of INEC Adamawa REC

PDP calls for immediate arrest of INEC Adamawa REC

By Emmanuel Oloniruha

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Malam Hudu Yunusa-Ari, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Adamawa State.

The party made the call in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba in Abuja on Sunday.

Ologunagba said Yunusa-Ari should be arrested for making illegal declaration of the election result in ‘criminal usurpation of the duties and powers’ of the Returning Officer, Prof Mohammed Mele, while collation process was still on-going.

“It is even more absurd that the Adamawa State REC did not only usurp the powers of the returning officer but attempted to declare a winner without figures.

“He made the attempt in reckless violation of the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act, 2022, INEC Guidelines as well as the sensibility of the people of Adamawa State,” Ologunagba said.

The party spokesman said that the reprehensible criminal conduct of the state REC confirmed the earlier alarms by the PDP which demanded for his immediate removal from Adamawa State.

He said that the called followed alleged evidence of his complicity and being compromised to manipulate the election in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, notwithstanding the votes by the people of Adamawa State.

“Yunusa-Ari’s action is subversive and calculated to cause crisis in Adamawa State, destabilise our democracy and peaceful co-existence as a nation.

“We call on the inspector general of Police to immediately arrest Yunusa-Ari and make him face the full wrath of the law for his conduct.”

Ologunagba said that the PDP noted the pronouncement by INEC Headquarters that the action of the REC was “null, void and of no effect”.

He said that the PDP therefore demanded that INEC Headquarters should immediately direct the state returning officer to conclude collation and announce the results from the polling units.

He called on INEC to declare PDP candidate and the incumbent, Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri as winner, “having scored the majority of lawful votes cast.

“From the results already collated across the 69 polling units where the supplementary elections held and which are on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal, Fintiri clearly won the election.

“Our party therefore demands that INEC should without further delay announce the results as already collated from the polling units and declare Fintiri as winner.

“Anything short of this will not be accepted by our party and the people of Adamawa State,” he said.

He called on the people of Adamawa State, Nigerians and the international community to disregard the purported declaration of Aisha Binani of APC as winner of the election.