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In the April 15 supplementary governorship election in Adamawa State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Senator Aisha Dahiru (Binani), the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Hudu Yunusa-Ari and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, represented the bad, the ugly and the beast in Nigeria’s democracy. They constituted the trinity of impunity; the triumvirate of the absurd and by their actions, dealt devastating blow to the growth and development of democracy in the country.
When it is advised that one on white apparel should not go near red oil, there is sense in it. Any stain on the attire readily shows and makes nonsense of the outfit. This is what the recklessness of Binani, Yunusa-Ari and Yakubu’s INEC has done to the country; further reducing her in respect and repute.
Until the premium-grade clownery on Sunday, April 16, 2023, by Yunusa-Ari in announcing Binani winner of the election, when collation of results had not been concluded, she had the sympathy of many. Blazing the trail in the primaries and dusting some big names, including the pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, to pick the ticket of her party, was not a mean feat. It was indeed, a big deal.
Again, being the most visible woman in the male-dominated campaign, endeared her to many. Some had even looked forward to her emergence as the first elected female governor in the country. But there was a snag and the election was declared inconclusive and rescheduled for Saturday, April 15. It was in the process of collating the results, that Yunusa-Ari did the unthinkable and declared Binani the winner.
Not many, perhaps, would have bothered much about the buffoonery displayed by the REC but for Aisha lashing onto the declaration to embark on victory lap and reading an acceptance speech. That was a major sign of a sinister script at play. To push the mischief further, she approached a court to consolidate her declaration as governor-elect. This was where she lost many of her supporters.
There is a huge irony in the entire thing. Aisha represents Adamawa Central in the Senate. As a senior lawmaker, she should have known that she was embarking on a dangerous course. Yunusa-Ari, who announced her as the winner, lacked the authority to do so. He knew that he was acting beyond his powers. They said he is a lawyer, in fact, the secretary of the Bauchi State branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) at a time. He ought to have known that it was the Returning Officer that should do the declaration, at the completion of collation of results.
A stalemate was thus, in the offing when the INEC headquarters intervened, suspended the REC, concluded the process and announced the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Governor Umaru Fintiri, the winner.
Prof Yakubu and his men in Abuja have been basking in the euphoria of that intervention, portraying themselves as messiahs and leaving Binani and Yunusa-Ari in the lurch. The last of the measures advertised against Yunusa-Ari was the directive by the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, for him to be investigated and prosecuted.
Quite frankly, I do not know how far we may go on that, going by past experiences. It may end up a smokescreen or in the words of the late senior colleague, Dele Giwa; ‘a hollow ritual of comic tragedy’. Something suggest to me that the REC would be quietly eased out of the system and let off the hook. The fear is even playing out in the Commission claiming not knowing his whereabouts after his dastardly action. But if in the most unlikelihood he is apprehended and brought to trial, that becomes his lot. He then becomes a fall-guy in the game. Among hunters, certain animals are sacrificed for bigger ones.
Yakubu’s INEC in appearing to act promptly in Adamawa, is merely trying to cover its perfidious roles in the February 25 presidential election and the March 18 governorship poll. What Yunusa-Ari did for Binani in Adamawa, was not spectacularly different from the manipulations that took place in Rivers, Kaduna and other states to ensure that the governors had their way in installing their cronies. If you add the voter suppression and other untoward acts in Lagos and Enugu, which the Commission ignored to arrive at a predetermined outcome, the Adamawa episode should then be seen as driving to same destination from a different route. The difference could only be in the characters in Adamawa not tidying their act smoothly. Whatever action INEC claims to be taking against Yunusa-Ari, cannot, therefore, excite perceptive minds. In a market place when a thief is apprehended and being lynched, it is usually those in similar engagement with him that hit him hardest, not essentially in utter condemnation of the act but for failing to cover his tracks and allowing himself to be caught.
The indiscretion in Adamawa by Yunusa-Ari, remains condemnable any day. But there is no how any Nigerian of good conscience can isolate the idiocy in the state and avoid calling out the INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu and President Muhammadu Buhari over the charade that passed for the February 25 presidential election. The weight of the electoral heist which they supervised, will take Nigeria some time to recover from. Both are the biggest losers in the election.
Take away the Adamawa REC making an announcement he was not empowered to do; it was all about going against laid down rules and procedures. In similar way, Yakubu’s INEC, in dumping its touted Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS), electronic transfer of result and the odious midnight declaration of APC candidate, Bola Tinubu as the president-elect, remain a sore taste to Nigerians and some sections of the international community. INEC chairman is not better than the Adamawa REC in dashing the hopes of the electorate, truth be told.
It is good that the matters arising from the elections are before the courts. They have the final say. But it rankles exceedingly that Buhari, who repeatedly pledged bequeathing a legacy of credible democracy and transparent elections, pretends not to notice the assault on Nigerians by INEC in the elections. Equally, Mahmood Yakubu in brushing aside the processes which his commission emphasised on before the election, does not see anything wrong in the manifest deceit. How then can anyone, sincerely isolate and blame Binani or Yunusa-Ari in their bizarre and hideous actions in Adamawa?
