Electoral fraud: Gov Fintiri seeks prosecution of perpetrators

By Musa Baba Adamu

Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State has made a case for the prosecution of people who willfully perpetuate electoral fraud anywhere in the country.
Fintiri, who was evidently still unable to come to terms with how his opponent in the last election was declared winner when the electoral process was not yet concluded, said in a statewide broadcast on Monday that such brazen act should not go unpunished.
Fintiri, who said the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), was unbiased in its conduct of the elections of last year, however took strong exception to its suspended resident electoral commissioner during the election in Adamawa, Hudu Ari-Yunusa, whose suspension was announced by the Commission after he usurped the function of the returning officer and prematurely declared a winner.
“As for those who connived with the REC to make us pass through those democratically embarrassing moments, I want to assure you once again, that we owe it a duty to prosecute all of them according to the dictates of the law,” Fintiri said in his broadcast Monday afternoon.
“This is the only way we can protect our electoral process and democratic culture from undue abuse,” the governor added.
It would be recalled that Hudu had declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress in that election, Senator Aishatu Ahmed (Binani), as the winner while collation was ongoing.
He was suspended by INEC and is currently facing charges over his action.
Meanwhile, as part of his Monday broadcast to Adamawa people, Fintiri who was officially addressing his people for the first time after his Supreme Court victory of last Wednesday, said the favourable judgement is a motivation for him and other members of his government to serve the people even better.
He asked all Adamawa people to join him in the task, saying, “The litigants and everyone that has Adamawa at heart should set aside whatever misgivings and move on. We have wasted enough time. We have raised false hopes and rendered enough havoc to the anxious psyche of our supporters.
“We have inflicted enough injury to our bond and unity as a people. I am saying now, enough is enough! There is a limit to what falsehood can achieve. Adamawa state is greater than each one of us. The task ahead is enormous, requiring unity of purpose, a pooling of resources, integration of talents, and leveraging the unique attributes of each of us, to reinvent a better society for our people.