The Independent National Election Commission (INEC) has declared Ahmadu Fintiri, the incumbent governor of Adamawa State, the winner of the state gubernatorial election.
Mele Lamido, the returning officer of the Adamawa gubernatorial election, declared Fintiri the winner after tabulating the by-election results.
The final results showed that Progressive Congress (APC) candidate Aisha ‘Binani’ Dahiru received 398,788 votes, while Fintiri, the incumbent governor and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, received 398,788 votes. 430,861 votes to win the vote.
Recall that on March 20, INEC declared the election of Governor Adamawa on March 18 to be inconclusive.
The reconciliation officer announced that Fintiri received 421,524 votes while Progressive Congress (APC) candidate Aisha Binani received 390,275 votes. He said the gap between the top two candidates was less than the total number of potential voters – 37,016 – at 69 polling stations where the elections had been canceled.
After the election was declared inconclusive, INEC fixed April 15 as the date for the by-election.
On April 15, the by-election took place in Adamaoua.
Meanwhile, controversy arose during the collection of by-election results after Hudu Yunusa-Ari, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa declared Binani the winner of the election.
The reconciliation officer was not present when Yunusa-Ari announced that Binani was the winner of the election. Lamido is legally empowered to declare the winner of the election.
REC’s actions sparked controversy when INEC suspended the snack exercise and asked Yunusa-Ari to stay away from the office.
