April 17, 2023

The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 polls, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has described the purported declaration of Adamawa governorship election results as a game plan to upturn the democratic wishes of the people of the state.

Abubakar stated this in a statement by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, on Sunday in Abuja.

He said that the initial decision of INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa, Malam Hudu Yunusa-Ari, to declare the APC candidate, Sen. Aisha Binani, as the winner of the election was a case study in the shambolic nature of the 2023 polls in general.

“Here in Adamawa, we are witnesses to a novel practice in election management where a Resident Electoral Commissioner announced the loser of an election as a winner.

“It is not in doubt that INEC has approached the Adamawa State election with a pre-set agenda of declaring the APC at all cost.

“It is, therefore, on this note that we wish to call the attention of the world to the scheme being perpetrated by INEC to compromise the electoral wishes of the people of Adamawa State,” he said.

Abubakar said that such behaviour by INEC had negative consequences on the society.

He said people had seen how INEC conducted the Feb. 25 and March 18 elections against the run of play and later challenging cheated candidates to go to court.

Abubakar said that the people of Adamawa would not allow themselves to be cheated three times in a row.

He said the fact that the APC candidate had a prepared acceptance speech was a pointer to the guarantee of a false victory which the INEC must have promised her.

He alleged that it was the same REC who pressured the Returning Officer to manipulate the results of the contentious Fufore Local Government Area in the March 18 governorship election.

Abubakar said that the people of Adamawa would not allow the injustice to pass without being challenged.

“We demand the immediate resumption of the collation of results and its finalisation today.

“It is also our demand that the Adamawa REC and any other parties complicit in this treasonable act should be arrested immediately and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

“This will serve as a deterrent to anti-democratic forces who may want to torpedo our democracy and provoke violence in our country,“ Abubakar said.

Yunusa-Ari had declared Binani as winner midway into the collation.

Reports indicate that results from 10 out of the 20 local government areas had been declared while the exercise was adjourned till 11 a.m on Sunday.

However, Yunusa-Ari announced the final result an hour before the scheduled time. (NAN)