The Peoples Democratic Party, Labour Party and the New Nigeria People’s Party have warned the police and the Independent National Electoral Commission against delaying the arrest and prosecution of the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Adamawa State, Hudu Yunusa-Ari, following his illegal declaration of the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Aishatu Dahiru as the winner of the governorship poll in the state last Sunday.
The opposition parties said they would not condone a cover-up of the matter and called for a transparent investigation into the incident which generated nationwide criticism.
Also on Wednesday, the Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, insisted on the investigation of the REC.
Although the INEC leadership had summoned Yunusa-Ari to Abuja, there was no confirmation that he had been arrested, fuelling speculations that the APC and the electoral commission might be plotting to sweep the matter under the carpet.
In a telephone conversation with The PUNCH on Wednesday, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Ibrahim Abdullahi blamed the APC for the Adamawa debacle, describing the REC’s conduct as treasonable.
He said, “It is obvious that the ruling party is behind this. Now despite calls for Ari’s arrest, the security agencies have not summoned the courage to pick him up for this treasonable act. No Nigerian has perpetrated this kind of ignoble act since Nigeria gained her independence in 1960.’’
While insisting that the silence of the ruling party partly informed the refusal of the agencies to pick up Yunusa-Ari, Abdullahi saluted the courage of Nigerians, particularly Adamawa residents whom he said remained vigilant throughout the duration of the electoral mess.
“Nigerians deserve to be congratulated because they stood against daylight robbery. They stood against lawlessness and their will prevailed in the end,” he added.
That said, the PDP chieftain called on the security agencies to rise up and perform their constitutional responsibility of maintenance of law and order by arresting and prosecuting the embattled REC.
“Our advice is for the security agencies, particularly the police, to do its job. Suspending Ari is not enough. He should be made to face the full wrath of the law and the Nigerian Police must initiate that process without further delay,” he stressed.
The Chief Spokesman for the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Yunusa Tanko, expressed concern that Ari was walking on the street a free man a few days after his shameful act.
According to him, what the resident commissioner did amounted to a coup.
“To be quite honest with you, that man (REC) should have been arrested. He should have been in detention. What that man did was just like a coup?
“For him to be walking around freely means the police have not done their job. If there is a warrant for arrest on him, he should have been in detention. Anyway, you know it is the civil service. Perhaps, they want to treat the issue with due diligence,” he stated.
SDP condemns REC
Also speaking, Rufus Aiyenigba, National Publicity Secretary of the Social Democratic Party, argued that Yunusa-Ari ought to be in custody “for the illegal act he offered himself to perpetrate against the Nigerian people.’’
“What happened a few days is condemnable and as a party, we condemned it. There is no question about it that Ari ought to be answering questions by now. The silence between the Presidency and the ruling party is worrisome.
“Yes, INEC did well by suspending the REC but there must be some form of deterrent. The Inspector General of Police and his men must act professionally. The eyes of the world are in them. There is no reason Ari shouldn’t be in detention by now,” he submitted.
Weighing in on the issue, the Chief Spokesman for the NNPP Presidential Campaign Council, Ladipo Johnson faulted the position of the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on the issue.
Tinubu had in a statement on Wednesday congratulated the election winners and even asked the police to investigate the issue.
But Johnson faulted his statement, stating that he should have condemned the incident before charging police authorities to launch a full investigation.
He said, “The Adamawa REC should be in detention by now. What he did is not an ordinary thing. If justice is not done or seen to be done, by now we should have seen follow-up action over the matter. But we keep watching to see what will happen. Some people say the REC himself might have a lot to say regarding other things as well. Who also knows whether this is soft-landing we are already seeing? But what he did was terrible.”
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Mr Victor Oye urged Nigerians to be patient with the security agencies, even as he questioned the rationale in allowing Yunusa-Ari to continue to walk the streets a free man.
But the APC called on Nigerians to allow the rule of law to prevail in the case.
The Director of Publicity for APC, Bala Ibrahim, stated, “I don’t know why people put themselves in unnecessarily tense situations when things can be looked into the other way. Sometimes we take advantage of situations to exploit the law.”
Receiving his certificate of return at the INEC headquarters, in Abuja on Wednesday, the Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, admitted that the governorship election was the toughest in his political career.
Speaking with journalists after receiving the certificate alongside his deputy, Prof. Kaletapwa Farauta, Fintiri alleged that the manipulation of the exercise almost marred his victory as the security agencies could not rescue the situation.
The governor-elect who described himself as ‘a veteran of inconclusive elections’ said he has learnt a lot from the incident.
He insisted that Yunusa-Ari should be prosecuted in Adamawa because he committed the offence in Yola, the state capital.
“The REC from the beginning has been manipulating the election to give it to the APC but unfortunately because of the quantum of voting, he became confused and had to declare the election inconclusive believing that if he is given the second opportunity, he will be able to manipulate but God did not allow him.
“We won the inconclusive election again squarely and he had to do what he did disgracefully. I think INEC has taken steps and they are going to prosecute him but I think the right place to prosecute him is in Adamawa because he committed the offence in my land and I am going to instruct the Ministry of Justice to ensure that he is prosecuted and taken to jail,’’ he disclosed.
FG’s stand
As the controversy over the Adamawa REC’s action rages, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has defended the failure of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to react to the failed plot to derail the electoral process in Adamawa State.
He explained that the President does not micromanage government agencies, saying it is the prerogative of the INEC to deal with the infraction committed by the suspended REC.
When pressed for the FG’s reaction to the development, the minister said: “I don’t think that this government has ever intervened in the way the Independent National Electoral Commission conducts its elections. So, there’s no need for us to intervene. It was entirely an INEC matter and INEC handled it.
“The chairman of INEC is in charge of all employees of INEC and he’s handling it. So, what do you want the government to do?,” Mohammed said during a heated exchange with State House Correspondents after this week’s Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
