Adamawa REC’s Action A Serious Threat To Country’s Democracy – Adeleke

Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has described the development in Adamawa state as a serious threat to the country’s nascent democracy.

Naija News reported that the state Resident Electoral Commission (REC), Hudu Yunusa-Ari, on Sunday declared Binani as the winner of the governorship election.

Yunusa announced this while collation of the Saturday’s supplementary poll had not been concluded and usurping state returning officer, Professor Mohammed Mele.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), however, overruled Yunusa’s declaration and suspended the collation of results, and summoned the REC to Abuja.

In a statement on Tuesday by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, the Osun governor expressed solidarity with his Adamawa state counterpart and congratulated him on his electoral victory.

Adeleke, who expressed shock at the drama around the Adamawa governorship election results, described the attempt to truncate the collation of results as a direct assault on electoral democracy.’

He said: “I stand by democracy, rule of law, and due process as stipulated by the Constitution and the Electoral Act. We oppose any shenanigans to tamper with the will of the Adamawa people who have the inalienable right to choose their leader.

“Democracy is premised on people’s choice freely expressed through the ballot. That process has now been standardized and rig-proofed with BVAS machines which further strengthened the safety of voters’ choices. We stand by the Constitution and the Electoral Act.”

Adeleke, however, commended the swift intervention of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which nullified the illegal declaration of a winner before the conclusion of the collation of votes.

He added: “I hail INEC’s intervention. The Commission did well to have acted to save the day. I however call on the Commission to speed up the process of votes collation. Any further delay may strengthen the hand of those who want to suppress the will of the people.

“INEC should fast-track the collation and announce the rightful winner. Only that route can salvage the serious challenges facing our democracy. We must join hands to stop the erosion of democratic practices and values.”