INEC to conduct supplementary election in Adamawa
INEC to conduct supplementary election in Adamawa
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it will fix a new date for re-run elections in areas where the 2023 governorship election did not hold on March 18 in Adamawa State.
The Commission has vowed to ensure that the supplementary election will be credible and seamless.
INEC Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, made the pledge on Saturday in Abuja while addressing a group of women protesting the Commission’s decision to declare the Adamawa guber election as inconclusive.
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The women had stormed the INEC headquarters to protest the alleged denial of victory to the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator Aishatu Dahiru Binani in the March 18 governorship election.
The protesters were led by the President of the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), Hajiya Lami Lau.
INEC had earlier in the week declared the March 18 governorship election in Adamawa inconclusive.
According to the Commission, cancelled votes in the election were more than the margin of victory between the incumbent, Adamawa State governor and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Ahmadu Fintiri, and the runner-up, Binani of the APC.
Speaking to the protesters, INEC Commissioner for Information and Voter Education Okoye said the responsibility of the Commission as an electoral management body was to provide a platform for the people of the state to exercise their franchise.
He noted that although the platform was provided, the election was inconclusive.
“We regard our role in INEC as public trust; any individual, group or organisations with any grievance or complaint are free to come here and voice or ventilate their grievances.
“The people of Adamawa are the only ones with the right to elect their governor; those of us in the Commission and Nigerians from other states have no vote in Adamawa.
“Any individual not from Adamawa and who does not reside in the state has no vote. It is only the people of the state that will determine who their next governor will be.
“We will go back and give the state’s people the opportunity to have a conclusion relating to their governorship election.
“The Commission will go back to Adamawa and conduct a supplementary election that Nigerians and the international community will be proud of,” he said.
It could be recalled that Prof. Mohammed Mele, state collation officer, and Mr Yakubu Ari, Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner, said the governorship election results in Adamawa are inconclusive as the commission needs to verify the number of votes coming from Fufore local government area.
INEC ordered the recompilation of election results in some parts of Fufore following widespread disruption of collations by political thugs.