Adamawa guber: Fintiri gets Certificate of Return

Adamawa State governor and winner of the 2023 governorship election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ahmadu Umar Fintiri was on Wednesday issued a Certificate of Return, CoR.

The Certificate of Return was issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC at a brief ceremony in Abuja.

The joyful Fintiri told journalist in an interview after the presentation that his victory at the election has prepared him for a bigger challenge.

CAPITAL POST reported on Tuesday that the INEC declared Fintiri of winner after resumption of collation of suplementary results in the aftermath of controversy that trailed the February 25, 2023 governorship and House of Assembly polls.

His declaration by the electoral commission put paid to the controversies that had trailed the election since the first balloting on March 18, 2023.

Professor Mele, the returning officer for the Adamawa governorship election, declared Fintiri as the winner after the collation of the supplementary election results.

The final results showed that Governor Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, scored 430,861 votes to beat Aisha Dahiru Ahmed (Binani) of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who got 398,788 votes.

The returning officer also disclosed that the total votes cast were 869,106 while total valid votes were 853,819. Rejected votes were 15,287.

Before Fintiri’s declaration, the commission met, in Abuja, on the suspended election and resolved to write the Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Baba Alkali, to investigate the Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Mr Hudu Yunusa-Ari for possible prosecution.

It also resolved to write the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Mr Boss Mustapha, with a view to acquainting President Muhammadu Buhari with the “unwholesome” activities of the REC and possibly reviewing his appointment.

These came on a day the Inspector General of Police redeployed the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mohammed Barde, who was with the suspended REC when he announced Senator Aisha Dahiru Ahmed as the winner of the election, after breaching procedures.