Barely a week after the National Assembly approved his dismissal, former Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa State, Barr Hudu Ari, has insisted that the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general elections in the state, Senator Aisha Dahiru Binani, won the poll. 

He had been suspended after he declared Binani as the winner of the election while collation was still ongoing.

But Ari insisted he had documentary evidence that Binani defeated incumbent Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He made the revelation in a chat with journalists at his residence in Bauchi, swearing by the Holy Qur’an.

Ari said he took the decision in good faith and in accordance with the electoral guidelines.

Holding a copy of the Holy Qur’an while speaking to journalists, he said that there was pressure on him and other officials of the Commission to declare the incumbent governor winner of the election or his security could not be guaranteed.

Ari alleged that both the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmud Yakubu, and the Election Tribunal dismissed all his evidence against the irregularities in the controversial governorship election.

He said, “It came to my notice that my Head of ICT, Bala Aji, conducted himself, not in the manner of a good civil servant, or an honest civil servant, as far as the elections were concerned. He surrendered election documents, about 20,000 copies, to the Governor of Adamawa State.”

“We received a report, myself, the Commissioner of Police, and all the paramilitary agencies operating in Adamawa State. We went to that place, it’s a private house of the Governor. We went there, it took us time to open that door. The door was opened, we met the SSG and some government officials.”

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“We met them working directly, directly with these documents. These documents cover the whole of the State. So, we wrote a report. This is what is happening. And not only that, Bala Aji (ICT Head of INEC in Adamawa) misappropriated some of our papers. He took them somewhere, and the worst of it, on the day of the election.

“Bala Aji, the ICT head, was busy dashing away BVAS. He was giving our staff money in foreign currency. The thought came to me, I was shocked. To me, it’s an abuse of his own responsibility. So, I called him, I took strides against all that had happened, all the allegations against him. So, I expected the headquarters to respond quickly.

“They should have acted on those vote buying. So, they should have immediately come in and let us know about it. It would be the next line of action. Unfortunately, the report that I had sent (to INEC HQs) was swept under the carpets. This is one of the most unforgettable experiences I have ever had.”

A visibly enraged Ari further claimed that he was not given fair-hearing and all evidence to prove why he declared the female candidate winner were ignored by INEC and the tribunal.

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Responding on his sack, Ari said he is consulting his family whether to seek legal redress or not.

“My sack by the President did not bother me but the media trial has dented my image. I did not collect N2 billion from any politician. We are Nigerians, Nigeria belongs to all of us, it behoves on us to either make or mar it. This is very important and we must all choose what to do with it. I conducted the Presidential and NASS elections successfully and was in the process of the Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections when the problem began. It was in 69 polling units.”