Former Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Hudu Yunusa has claimed that his findings on the rigging of the 2023 governorship election in Adamawa State were ignored at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja.
This revelation comes a week after the National Assembly approved his dismissal.
Yunusa insisted that Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rigged the election by manipulating results and buying votes.
He further accused INEC officials of colluding to suppress evidence of the alleged irregularities, thereby compromising the transparency of the electoral process.
He maintained that Senator Aisha Dahiru Binani, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), won the controversial election.
Yunusa was suspended immediately he declared Binani as the winner of the election while the collation of results was still ongoing.
In his recent appearance in a live broadcast by AIT, the former REC insisted he had documentary evidence that Binani defeated the incumbent governor in the election, swearing by the Holy Qur’an.
He noted that both Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the Election Tribunal dismissed all his evidence regarding the irregularities in the contentious 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 (Secretary to the State Government) and some government officials.
“We met them working 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.
“I was shocked. To me, it’s an abuse of his 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 the 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 headquarters) was swept under the carpet. This is one of the most unforgettable experiences I have ever had.”
Sacked Adamawa REC, Yunusa-Ari opens up on 2023 Gov’ship polls pic.twitter.com/yQj4v0v27r
— Africa Independent Television (@AIT_Online) February 9, 2025
He added that he was denied his right to fair hearing to prove why he believed the APC candidate was the winner of the election.
He continued: “My sacking 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 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 (National Assembly) elections successfully and was in the process of the gubernatorial and state assembly elections when the problem began. It was in 69 polling units.”
