Supplementary Polls: INEC denies allegations of partisanship in Adamawa

Nigeria’s electoral commission, INEC, has denied allegations that its officials deployed for election duty in Adamawa State visited the state government house and received a list of returning officers from ‘a candidate participating in the elections’.

The denial was contained in a statement by the commission’s spokesperson, Festus Okoye, who accused an unnamed candidate in the election of making the allegations.

According to him, the unnamed candidate accused the INEC officials deployed for election duties of visiting the government house and meeting with one of the candidates in the election who gave them a list of “collation and returning officers” deployed for the election.

The candidate, he said, also alleged that the commission targeted Adamawa in its deployment of national commissioners and other officials with the sole purpose of influencing that outcome of the election.

“To set the record straight, no such visit or meeting took place let alone the compilation of any purported list of collation and returning officers,” Mr Okoye stated in the statement. “Such a meeting would have been contrary to the oath of neutrality that we all swore to.”

He clarified that the appointment of Returning Officer for the election was done prior to the presidential election as the same State Collation Officer for the Presidential Election (SCOPE) served as the Returning Officer for the governorship election.

He added that the deployment of national commissioners and other staff from the headquarters during supplementary or off-cycle elections were a standard practice of the commission when considered necessary.

He said: “In the case of Adamawa State where supplementary governorship election was held in 69 polling units, two National Commissioners were deployed while for Kebbi State involving 142 polling units, three National Commissioners were deployed. Similarly, one National Commissioner each was deployed to Sokoto, Zamfara, Imo, Rivers, Ekiti and Ogun States.”

The supplementary governorship election in Adamawa was embroiled in controversy when the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Ari, illegally and prematurely declared Aishatu Dahiru of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election when collation of results had yet to be concluded.

INEC has barred Mr Ari from its offices and wrote the Inspector General of Police to investigate and prosecute him.

The commission also continued with the collation of results where the incumbent, Ahmadu Fintiri, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) emerged winner of the election. He has been presented with a certificate of return.

Meanwhile, a Federal High Court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has postponed the hearing of the suit filed by Mrs Dahiru, popularly called Binani, seeking the validation of her illegal declaration as winner of the 18 March and 15 April elections.