The Independent National Electoral Commissioner (INEC) has declared Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winner of the governorship election in Adamawa State.
Mr Fintiri won the supplementary election with 9,337 votes. He defeated 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.
See the results of the supplementary election below
Total registered voters 42,929
Accredited voters 16,423
AA 2
AAC 28
ADP 40
APC 6,513
APGA 16
APM 03
APP 02
LP 03
NNPP 05
NRM 35
PDP 9,337
PRP 03
SDP 05
YPP 06
ZLP 01
Total 15,999
Rejected votes 399
Total votes cast 16,398
Total Election Results
Total registered voters 21965666
Accredited voters 876,387
Total results of the 18 March election and 15 April supplementary elections
AA 643
ADC 324
ADP 2,174
APC 398,788
APGA 892
APM 606
APP 286
LP 2,732
NNPP 4,852
NRM 1,272
PDP 430,861
PRP 1,188
SDP 6,870
YPP 1,431
ZLP 200
Total valid votes 853,819
Rejected votes 15,287
Total votes cast 869,106
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