The embattled Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Hudu Yunusa-Ari has said he has no regret declaring Senator Aishatu Ahmed Binani, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress APC as winner of the April 15 guber election in the state.
The Informant247 recalls that the REC, on Sunday April 16, 2023 declared Senator Aishatu Ahmed Binani the winner of the election even while collation of results was still ongoing.
The headquarters of the electoral commission took a quick step on the critical electoral issue as it suspended the REC and postponed the announcement of the results indefinitely.
INEC wrote the Inspector-General of Police, Alkali Baba Usman to immediately investigate and possibly prosecute the Resident Electoral Commissioner REC.
President Muhammadu Buhari on April 20 confirmed the suspension of the REC till the conclusion of police investigation.
INEC said it doesn’t know the whereabouts of the REC.
Yunusa-Ari on Tuesday May 2nd said he didn’t collect money from anyone to make the declaration.
He said he didn’t hide himself, and was ready to honour the investigation of the panel of investigation.
“I didn’t ask Binani and Fintiri for a single penny. It is against my religion to collect money from someone to help him do anything and I swear to God, claims that I was offered N2 billion are just baseless allegations and rumours,” Yunusa-Ari said.
“Where will I take N2 billion to? I saw it on social media that I was offered N2 billion.
“I don’t regret announcing Binani winner of the election. Anything you do according to the law, you won’t regret it.
“I wrote a letter to INEC which they said they won’t accept — but I’m sure they’ve accepted and the invitation sent by the police is mandatory for me to honour it.
“I never went into hiding. I will honour the invitation of the police.”
DSS, Police, INEC summon Adamawa REC, Yunusa-Ari
A panel combining operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have summoned the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner, Adamawa State, Hudu Yunusa-Ari.
Yunusa-Ari was invited over his role in the April 15 supplementary elections in Adamawa State.
The panel established by the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, has told the embattled REC to appear at the headquarters of the force, Louis Edet House, Abuja.
Garba Umar, who’s a Head of Interpol and an Assistant Inspector General of Police doubling as the Head of the Election Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation Team during the 2023 elections us to serve as the head of the panel.
The new development was confirmed by the spokesperson for the force criminal investigation department, Funmi Eguaoje.
The spokesperson aid the matter is not to be handled by the police alone but the panel of investigation.
Eguaoje said, “The suspended Adamawa REC has been invited by a joint panel comprising the police, DSS, and INEC officials. The committee was set up to investigate the matter, and the Chairman of the committee is AIG Garba. But it is not solely a police matter, the case is under the joint panel’s jurisdiction.
“The REC was invited by the joint committee, not the police. And I can’t confirm whether or not he has honoured the invite. I only know that he has been invited by the panel.”