Barr Hudu Ari, the recently dismissed Resident Electoral Commissioner for Adamawa State, has maintained his stance that the gubernatorial candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state's 2023 General elections, Sen Aisha Binani actually won the controversial election.
The National Assembly had recently given approval for the sack of Ari. He is one of the recently dismissed INEC officials.
Yari spoke with a cross section of Journalists in his private residence in Bauchi Saturday evening on issues leading to the controversial declaration of the election result by him.
A visibly angered Ari, affirmed that he is in receipt of necessary supportive documentary evidence that Aisha Binani defeated the incumbent Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the rounds of the elections.
Hudu Ari said that both Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmud Yakubu and the Election Tribunal dismissed all his pieces of evidence against the irregularities in the controversial governorship election.
Holding a copy of the Holy Qur’an while speaking to Journalists, he said that there was pressure on him and other officials of the Commission to declare the incumbent Governor, Adamu Fintiri winner of the election or else his security could not be guaranteed.
Swearing by the Holy Qur’an, he said that he did all he did in good faith and in accordance with the guidelines of the elections.
According to him, “It came to my notice that my Head of ICT, Bala Aji, conducted himself, not in the manner of a good Civil servant, or an honest Civil servant, as far as the elections were concerned. He surrendered election documents, about 20,000 copies, to the Governor of Adamawa State.”
He noted that, “We received a report, myself, the Commissioner of Police, and all the paramilitary agencies operating in Adamawa State. We went to that place, it’s a private house of the Governor. We went there, it took us time to open that door. The door was opened, we met the SSG and some government officials.”
Continuing he said, “We met them working directly, directly with these documents. These documents cover the whole of the State. So, we wrote a report. This is what is happening. And not only that, Bala Aji (ICT Head of INEC in Adamawa) misappropriated some of our papers. He took them somewhere, and the worst of it, on the day of the election.”
“Bala Aji, the ICT head, was busy dashing away BVAS. He was giving our staff money in foreign currency. The thought came to me, I was shocked. To me, it’s an abuse of his own responsibility.”
“So, I called him, I took strides against all that had happened, all the allegations against him. So, I expected the headquarters to respond quickly,” he added.
“They should have acted on those vote buying. So, they should have immediately come in and let us know about it. It would be the next line of action.”
He regretted that, “Unfortunately, the report that I had sent (to INEC HQs) was swept under the carpets. This is one of the most unforgettable experiences I have ever had.”
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