Confusion has trailed the declaration of Senator Aishatu Binani, as the governor-elect after the supplementary election held on Saturday in Adamawa State.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Hudu Yunusa, the Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), announced Binani, candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), as winner while collation of results was still ongoing at the INEC collation centre in Yola.
According to him, Binani has scored the highest number of votes hence his decision to declare her as the winner.
Yunusa, however, did not provide the data or the results with which she won the election.
“The APC scored the highest votes going by that Aishatu Binani is hereby declared as the elected governor of Adamawa State,” he said.
Dr Aliyu Idi Hong, the agent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the collation center, has described the declaration as baseless and of no binding effect, pointing out that only a Returning Officer and not the REC has the powers under the Electoral Act to declare results.
“We call on INEC to hasten sanctioning the Resident Electoral Commissioner for causing deliberate infraction” Hong said.
Meanwhile, INEC headquarters has pronounced the declaration as null and void and suspended collation of the results indefinitely. (NAN)