Public reactions on the activities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before, during and after the 2023 general elections, have continued to resonate. The opinion of majority of Nigerians is that INEC failed woefully in delivering on its promises to conduct free, fair and transparent elections. To the vocal but few personalities who see nothing wrong in INECs shoddy outing, the electoral umpire fully satisfied global best practices during the election. This is inspite of the report of domestic and international observers who have lampooned the commission for its disappointing outing.
It suffices at this point to state that the presidential candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and two others had approached the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), to express their dissatisfaction on the outcome of the presidential poll. Therefore, any further detailed analysis of the issues are now subjudice.
However, it must be stated that the current INEC led by Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, set historical record, even though negatively, on the conduct of elections. The handling of the elections have provided several openings to keep historians, journalists and doctoral students busy for several years.
And there is no denying the fact that the results of the governorship elections in Abia and Enugu states, stalemated and proceeded to Abuja for review, due to entrenched interests. Before the resolving impasse, the collated results had to be kept in incubator, some mathematical surgeries performed on them, before they were finally announced. It was the first time such was backward and forth procedures took place in the country’s political trajectory.
Even at that, while that of Abia and Enugu states were eventually resolved, that of Adamawa state is still on incubation leading to a run-off, and so setting a historical record.
As it is, Adamawa has pioneered a run-off in a gubernatorial election conducted during a general election. Recall that there were run-offs in Osun, Ekiti and Kogi states previously, but those occurred during off-season gubernatorial elections. None of the reasons that led to those run-offs was brought to Abuja for resolution. But the common denominator is that all the elections lacked transparency which were created by the tardiness of the electoral umpire.
However, with the signing into law of the 2022 Electoral Act, which introduced the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) and iREV viewing portal for the confirmation of polling unit results, Nigerians had believed that the rascality by INEC which had led to run-off, inconclusive and often disputed elections have been dealt with. Alas, they were disappointed!
It is now common knowledge that BVAS and iREV were bypassed by INEC to create the current impasse and also that security agencies failed to be professional in the discharge of their statutory responsibilities.
Whereas the initial impasse in Abia and Enugu states got resolved, and winners at the elections eventually got announced, that of Adamawa was pushed to a run-off.
It is the first time since 1999 the state would witness such a stalemate in a governorship contest. It is also the first time a female governorship candidate would be on the ballot and also the first time, a woman would create such sensation in the state.
The nearest to the Adamawa incident, though not exactly in the mould, happened in Taraba State in 2015, when Hajiya (Sen.) Aisha Alhassan held the incumbent Governor Darius Ishiaku to the jugular as a gubernatorial candidate, but that was to the extent that she disputed the outcome of the governorship election at the tribunal.
But, the Adamawa governorship election has created a precedent in Nigeria’s political history; a run-off, first to be decided not by the Governorshop Election Returning Officer in the state, but by a review panel at the INEC headquarters in Abuja and also, the fact that a lady is at the center of it all in a socio-cultural and religious mileau considered to be male dominated.
The issue now is not about the run-off, but the underlying political maneuvers to depart from the norm and set a negative paradigm. There have been claims and counter claims of political gerrymandering and obfuscation of facts, truth and due process with INEC at the center of it all.
First was the allegation that INEC awarded contract for the printing of the Gubernatorial Election Result Sheets to Binani Printing and Publishing Ltd, believed to be owned by Sen. Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed, aka, Aisha Binani. She is the governorship candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. When a copy of the contract by INEC became public knowledge, Barr. Festus Okoye, National Commissioner, Voter Education and Publicity/Chairman, Publicity of the INEC, debunked that the company belonged to Sen. Aisha Binani. However, search at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) by some Non-Governmental Organisations and the media, indicated that Okoye was economical with the truth. The is arguing that Sen. Binani by that contract, secured undue advantage in the governorship contest, so did her party, the APC.
Another issue which cropped up in the state was the circulation of a purported result of the Adamawa governorship election tabulations, which placed Aisha Binani ahead of Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The result which tuened out to be fake was nonetheless promoted by a top-rated journalist and Spokesman of the Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council, Mr. Bayo Onanuga. He had tweeted: “congrats Aisha Binani for being Nigeria’s first elected female state governor. We all love you for opening new frontier for all Nigerian women”.
Political pundits had wondered how Onanuga came up with such false and fake results soon after his infamous vitrolic attacks against the Igbo for exercising their franchise in Lagos.
Onanuga’s faux pas in Adamawa centered mainly on Fufore Local Government Area result where on March 19, 2023, he claimed that Binani scrored 37,752 to Fintiri’s 7,568 votes at the LGA. That’s a blatant misinformation. The correct result from the LGA showed that Binani polled 24,777 and Fintiri got 20,409 votes. However, the figure is the primary subject of the controversy led to a re-run in the LGA after the entire result had been cancelled.
Another issue which is bugging the Adamawa electorates is the dispute on the number of polling units affected in the re-run. The PDP Campaign Council claims there were plans to manipulate and conduct the rerun election in 77 polling units, as against the 69 declared by the Commission, meaning there’s additional eight polling units from what Mr. Hudi Yunusa Ari had declared,” the NGO stated. Mele had relied on the INEC guidelines to order for a re-run in the 69 polling units because the ballots exceeded the margin of difference with the accredited voters in the aggregate polling units.
As a result of the dispute leading to the re-run Gov. Umaru Fintiri, who had polled 421,524 votes, as against Aishatu Binani’s 399,275 votes, could not be declared the winner considering that the total number of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) collected in the affected units is 37,016. The 37,016 ballots is higher than Fintiri’s leading margin of 31,249. While the political groups sympathetic to Binani make their own claims to grabbing the seat of Governor of Adamawa State, those sympathetic to Gov. Fintiri counterclaim that the re-run was to seek opportunity to muddle up things and award figures and declare Binani the Governor-elect.
Whether or not the allegations hold water, what is required at the moment is transparency. Nigerians are worried that INEC failed to rise above board in the conduct of the 2023 general elections inspite of the over N300 billion it asked for and received, the amended Electoral Act which provided for electronic accreditation and transmission of polling unit results, with orovuson for clear-cut procedure for resolving disputed figures.
Recall that in Osun State, in 2018, former Governor Goyega Oyetola came from behind and upstaged the front-runner in that election and the current governor of the state, Sen. Ademola Adeleke. Such abracadabra also occurred in Edo State sometime ago, which resulted from the failure of INEC to be neutral and uphold transparency. Nigerians recall vividly how the former Resident Electoral Commissioner of Akwa-Ibom State, Barr. Mike Igini, etched his name on gold when he insisted that correct things be done during the off-season governorship election in the state. Igini had to drag then State Returning Officer to court and got him jailed for dishonesty and tampering with election results. Igini unfortunately victimised as he was not nominated for further assignments in INEC by President Muhammadu Buhari. Recall also that recently, the twosome of Profs. Michael Iwe, Vice-Chancellor, University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, who served as the State Collation Officer in Enugu State and Prof. Nnenna Nnennaya Oti, Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, who served as the State Collation Officer for Abia State, joined Igini’s ranks of INEC officlas with great integrity by refusing to yield to the pressure to twart the wishes of the electorates in the two states. By insisting on due process, honesty and transparency, being demanded in Adamawa state, unnecessary recriminations were pushed aside in Abia and Enugu states.
On no account should shenanigans who promote activities that run counter to the letters of the Electoral Act or INEC Electoral Manual be permitted to handle the Adamawa governorship re-run. What is needed in Adamawa are justice, equity and transparency. Anything to the contrary could lead to anarchy. May that never be the case! The ball is in INEC’s court.
