INEC had immediately summoned Ari to Abuja and declared his announcement an invalid declaration and an usurpation of the powers of the collation and returning officer.
Sequel to the suspended Adamawa State Governorship Election, all the National Commissioners of the Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are reportedly in a closed-door meeting.
Also attending the meeting holding at the commission’s national headquarters in Abuja, are the residents electoral Commissioners.
SaharaReporters reports that the meeting which appears to an emergency meeting is coming barely 24 hours after the electoral umpire directed its Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa State, Hudu Yunusa Ari, to stay away from all activities of the commission in the state.
It had been reported that on Sunday while the collation of supplementary governorship election results held in the state on Saturday were still ongoing, the INEC REC at about 9am declared Aisha ‘Binani’ Dahiru of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner.
Dahiru who contested against the incumbent, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had been severally reported to have claimed that she would be governor at all cost.
INEC had immediately summoned Ari to Abuja and declared his announcement an invalid declaration and an usurpation of the powers of the collation and returning officer.
Before the collation exercise was suspended on Saturday night, results from 10 LGAs had been announced — and Binani was trailing Fintiri.
The collation of results from the remaining 10 LGAs was expected to commence by 11am on Sunday, and Mele Lamido, the returning officer for the Adamawa governorship election, was not present when Ari announced Binani as the winner of the election.
According to the constitution, Lamido is the rightful official empowered to declare the winner of the election as the Returning Officer of the election.