INEC blasts Binani for accusing commission of colluding with Gov Fintiri

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has refuted allegations that it met with representatives of the Adamawa State Government to rig the governorship race.

The denial followed a claim that its representatives, sent to oversee the governorship rerun, paid a midnight visit to the state government house with the apparent goal of rigging the results in favour of incumbent Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri.

Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Committee on Information and Voter Education, refuted the charges in a statement on Thursday, April 20.

Okoye said, “The attention of the Commission has been drawn to a Press Statement by a candidate in the recently concluded Adamawa State Governorship election in which officials deployed for legitimate duty in the State were alleged to have undermined the electoral process after a discreet ‘nocturnal’ visit to the Government House and ostensibly met with one of the candidates in the election who gave them a list of ‘collation and returning officers’ deployed for the election.

“Ordinarily, the Commission does not join issues with partisan actors, particularly where no evidence has been provided.

“To set the record straight, no such visit or meeting took place let alone the compilation of any purported list of collation and returning officers. Such a meeting would have been contrary to the oath of neutrality that we all swore to.

“Moreover, every conscientious observer would have noticed that the Commission appointed and retained only one Returning Officer for the Governorship election who also doubled as the State Collation Officer for the Presidential Election. Like all Returning Officers nationwide, he was issued with a letter of appointment by the Commission and the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Adamawa State was duly informed.

“The list of Collation Officers was also forwarded to the State with every page of the list personally endorsed by the Chairman of the Commission well ahead of the arrival of the National Commissioners.”

The national commissioner further said the same press statement created the impression that the National Headquarters of the commission specifically targeted Adamawa state in its deployment of National Commissioners and other officials with the sole intention of influencing the outcome of the supplementary election held on Saturday 25th April 2023 and sidelining the REC.

He noted, “Nothing can be further from the truth. For the record, it has been the standard policy and practice of the Commission to deploy National Commissioners, RECs and other staff from the headquarters or neighboring States for supplementary or off-cycle elections where doing so is considered necessary.”