After stalemated election, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been elected for a second term as the governor of Adamawa State.
Mr Fintiri who ruled the state since 2019 won the supplementary election with 9,337 votes.
Announcing the results at Yola, Adamawa capital on Tuesday, the Independent National Electoral Commissioner (INEC) said Fintiri beat his closest rival, Aisha Dahiru, popularly called Binani, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who came second in the poll with 6,513 votes.
Mr Fintiri and Mrs Dahiru are the major contenders in the governorship poll.
The supplementary poll was held in 69 polling units in the 20 local governments in the state, with less than 40,000 eligible voters.
At the 18 March governorship poll before it was declared inconclusive, Mr Fintiri was leading with over 30,000 votes.
For both the main election and the rerun, the governor polled a total of 430,861 votes while the APC candidate scored 398,788 votes.
The final results were announced by the INEC Returning Officer in the state, Mohammed Mele.
Mr Mele, a professor, said the PDP governorship candidate has met the constitutional requirement and thereby returned as governor of the state.
“I, Professor Muhammed Mele, hereby certified that I am the Returning Officer for the Adamawa State Governorship election. The election was contested. That the candidates received the following votes,” he said.
“That Ahmadu Fintiri of the PDP having satisfied the requirements of the law is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected.”
The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Hudu Ari, had, on Sunday, declared Mrs Dahiru the winner of the governorship election.
Mr Ari announced the APC candidate winner of the election while the collation of the results of the supplementary election conducted on Saturday was still in progress.
However, INEC headquarters in Abuja declared the REC’s action
null and void and suspended the collation of the results.
The commission also summoned him to Abuja and subsequently barred him from the office. It is not certain if he has arrived Abuja.
Also on Monday, Mrs Dahiru approached the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to stop INEC from voiding her illegal declaration as Adamawa governor-elect. The court adjourned to 26 April, the day the collation of the results of the supplementary election resumed and Mr Fintiri declared winner.
Meanwhile, the electoral body said it had decided to write the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, requesting to probe and prosecute Mr Ari for his conduct.
Mr Baba, on his part, has ordered the removal of the Commissioner of Police on election duty in Adamawa State, Mohammed Barde, over his alleged role in the illegal declaration of Mrs Dahiru, as the winner of the state governorship election on Sunday.
The IGP also directed the Gombe State Police Commissioner, Etim Equa, to proceed to Adamawa to take charge.
Fintiri’s acceptance speech
Adamawa governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, on Tuesday promised to deliver more dividends of democracy for the development of the state and its people in his second term of office.
Fintiri spoke in Yola while giving his acceptance speech after he was declared the winner of the governorship election.
While expressing his appreciation to the people of Adamawa for their overwhelming support at Saturday’s supplementary governorship election which ended in his re-election, the governor, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also commended INEC for conducting free, fair and credible elections.
“You voted for continuity in functional public school system and payment of West African Examination Council’s and National Education Council’s examination fees for our children.
“You voted for continuity in the provision of healthcare and health insurance that make it easier for the vulnerable to access quality health service with ease.
“You voted for continuity in the provision of urban and rural infrastructure, policies that empower our women and youths and continuity of justice and fair play,’’ he said.
Fintiri particularly commended the institutional capacity of INEC at the election, especially its use of new technology in the conduct of the exercise.
“Technological innovation introduced in the conduct of the election and the untiring commitment of the management and staff of INEC added tremendous value to the credibility of the election,’’ the governor said.
Fintiri appreciated national and international election observers, the media, security agencies and all other stakeholders for the role they played in ensuring free, fair and credible election.
