Tribunal Rejects Binani’s Petition, Upholds Fintiri’s Re-Election As Gov

The Adamawa governorship election petition tribunal has confirmed Ahmadu Fintiri’s victory as the governor of the state.

In a ruling on Saturday, the three-member panel dismissed the petition filed by Aisha ‘Binani’ Dahiru, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the March 18 election.

Binani had taken her case to court, attempting to invalidate Fintiri’s election, alleging vote buying, thuggery, and over-voting during the election.

The Controversial Adamawa Election

On March 20, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the Adamawa governorship election inconclusive.

Mele Lamido, the returning officer, had announced that Fintiri had received 421,524 votes while Binani had secured 390,275.

He pointed out that the margin between the top two candidates was smaller than the total number of potential voters, which was 37,016, in 69 polling units where elections were canceled.

Following the inconclusive election, INEC scheduled a supplementary election for April 15.

However, a dispute arose during the collation of results after Hudu Yunusa-Ari, the resident electoral commissioner (REC) in the state, declared Binani as the election winner, a declaration that was later deemed null and void by the electoral commission.

Yunusa-Ari’s arrest followed, and he was handed over to the police for prosecution. The final results revealed that Binani had secured 398,788 votes, while Fintiri had won with 430,861 votes.