Agency Report –
Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has advised the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner in Adamawa, Hudu Yunusa-Ari, to prove his innocence in court rather than through a news conference.
Chief Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Abuja.
Mr Oyekanmi said that now that Mr Yunusa-Ari was back in the country, he should avail himself the opportunity of exploiting a legal process om his alleged involvement in irregularities in the conduct of the 2023 governorship election in Adamawa.
Mr Yunusa-Ari is facing a six-count charge of unlawful roles in the Adamawa governorship election held on March 18, 2023.
NAN also reports that Mr Yunusa-Ari was suspended in April 2023 by former President Muhammadu Buhari for declaring Aisha Dahiru (popularly known as Binani) of All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the governorship election when collation of results was still ongoing.
INEC, however, declared the announcement null and void and summoned the REC to its headquarters in Abuja, after which he was suspended.
The suspended REC had, at a news conference on Saturday in Bauchi State, faulted his suspension, saying that he was not given fair hearing, while also insisting that Bianani won the election.
Mr Oyekanmi, while reacting to the claims, advised Yunusa-Ari to go and defend himself in the court, not through a news conference.
“In response to your request, our attention has also been drawn to the interview granted by the former REC of Adamawa State, Yunusa-Ari. There is nothing new in what he said.
“In any case, the substantive matter of the 2023 Adamawa State governorship election has been determined through the appropriate judicial process from the trial tribunal to the appeal tribunal and finally settled by the Supreme Court.
“The commission will not comment on the propriety or otherwise of his conduct during the concluding part of the election, as the matter is right now the subject of litigation at the High Court sitting in Yola and, therefore, subjudice
“Now that he is back in the country, the right place to prove his innocence and the propriety of his action is by availing himself for the due process of law and not a press conference,” Oyekanmi said.
Mr Yunusa-Ari had, at the news conference in Bauchi, claimed that he tried multiple times to explain his actions to INEC through letters.
The former REC, who claimed officials were pressured to declare Ahmadu Fintiri of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as winner of the election, argued that he deserved to be heard.
NAN reports that the Federal High Court in Abuja had, in February 2024, dismissed a suit filed by Mr Yunusa-Ari, seeking protection against arrest, detention or prosecution by the police and others.
The presiding judge of the court, James Omotosho, in his judgment, dismissed the suit for lacking merit.
Mr Omotosho held that Yunusa-Ari, in his fundamental rights enforcement suit, made an elaborate show by trying to shield himself from being arrested, detained or prosecuted by security agencies, but that there was no ground where such immunity could have been granted by the court.
In January 2025, Mr Yunusa-Ari also pleaded with the Adamawa High Court to adjourn the case against him sine die (indefinitely).
Recently, the Senate had approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to fire Mr Yunusa-Ari and the RECs of Abia and Sokoto states over alleged misconduct.
