We don't know whereabouts of Adamawa REC; he doesn't reply our calls - INEC reveals

Festus Okoye, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have revealed the commission doesn't know the whereabouts of Barr. Hudu Yunusa Ari, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of Adamawa State.

Mr. Okoye made this known in an interview on the Channels Televisions Morning Show program, Sunrise Daily.

Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved the immediate suspension from office of embattled Yunusa Ari after he illegally and wrongfully announced Aishatu Dahiru Binani, the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the governorship election in the state.

His action caused an uproar in the state with many criticizing the commission and how it handled the 2023 general elections.

"We do not know where he is because after this particular incident, the commission wrote to him and called him on the phone but he never returned any of his calls. He never answered any of his calls. We asked him to report to the commission on Sunday but he didn't come. We asked him to report on Monday but we didn't see him. So up to this moment, he has not reported as we don't know his where about," Mr Okoye said.

Mr Okoye's revelation comes after Yunusa-Ari was cited in a video embarking on a private jet.

According to Sahara Reporters, Yunusa-Ari was flown to Abuja from Yola immediately after announcing Binani as the winner of the election.

He was flown out of Yola in a private jet with registration number – (NG) 5N-IKO. The identity of the owner of the Raytheon Hawker 800XP, as further investigation only showed it was registered to an ‘unknown owner’, SaharaReporters said.

The aircraft’s model reads S – 0642EC while its serial number is 258547.

Investigation showed that the private aircraft left Yola at exactly 12.58 pm on Sunday, shortly after Yunusa-Ari made the announcement, and touched down in Abuja at exactly 1.38 pm, after flying for 40 minutes.

The aircraft left Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos at 7.09 pm on Thursday, April 20, 2023 and was last seen near Ibadan, Oyo State at 7.28 pm.

NBA