April 18, (THEWILL) – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, under the leadership of Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, has strongly condemned what it described as a “show of shame” in the North-Eastern State.
A mild drama played out on Sunday, at the Adamawa State Collation Centre in Yola, when the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Hudu Yunusa Ari, controversially declared Aisha ‘Binani’ Dahiru, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the polls, a move that was not within his constitutionally given authority.
The Forum, in a statement on Monday, by its Spokesman, Hon. C.I.D. Maduabum, commended the “immediate steps taken by the INEC as an institution to recover its battered image by nullifying the attempted coup and suspending the REC.”
He, however, said the appropriate Returning Officer, Mele Lamido, should immediately conclude the collation and declare the result.
“One of the most important lessons of this election season is that the integrity of INEC personnel is crucial to free, fair, and credible elections as well as the deployment of technology.
“Going forward, there should be a deliberate process of revisiting the appointments of National and Resident Electoral Commissioners to weed out corrupt and extremely partisan officials. It is the partisan method of appointment of these officials that led to national disgrace in Adamawa State,” the PDP Governors said.
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
