… asks INEC to sanction erring officers
The Centre for Democracy and Development has rejected the announcement of supplementary election results in the state, declaring Aishatu Binani, governorship candidate of the All-Progressives Congress, as the winner.
The state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner of the state, Hudu Yunusa, had announced Binani as the winner, following supplementary elections conducted in the state on Saturday.
However, CDD, in a statement on its official Twitter handle on Sunday, noted that the announcement should rather have been made by the Returning Officer while urging the Independent National Electoral Commission to continue the collation of the results and punish erring officials.
The group also stated that it was important for laws and guidelines set by INEC to be followed, to avoid the breakdown of law and order.
The statement reads as follows, “The CDD strongly condemns the recent announcement, by the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Adamawa State, of a winner in yesterday’s governorship election.
The laws and procedures guiding Nigeria’s elections are such that only the returning officer can make such a declaration, which makes this recent announcement null and void. We call on inecnigeria to immediately exercise its powers by continuing the collation process that was scheduled to resume today, sanctioning all erring officials who carried out this illegal announcement and ensuring that results are publicly available to all citizens.
It is important that laid down processes are adhered to avoid a breakdown of law and order in a heightened political environment. CDD will release a statement on the conduct of the elections later today.
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