Some keen watchers of Professor Mahmoud Yakubu’s Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, have posited that the activities of Yunusa Hudu-Ari, the suspended Adamawa State Electoral Commissioner in the recently conducted governorship election in the state have become a thorn in the flesh of INEC and the alleged contraption referred to as the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu
By Miracle Egbo
Among the retinue of State Electoral Commissioners with whom Professor Mahmoud Yakubu used for the conduct of the infamous February 25, 2023 presidential election only Yunusa Hudu-Ari, the suspended State Electoral Commissioner of Adamawa hugged the headlines of the national dailies, though in a negative way, standing out like a sore thumb in replicating the heist foisted on the Nigerian public on February 25, 2023 by his superior at the headquarters of the electoral umpire, Yakubu.
Some spectators of the conduct of the presidential election of 2023 are still smarting from the bruise encountered by the electoral managers on the blatant disregard for the rules and regulations set by itself when it observed the guidelines which it authorized in the breach with an arrogant conclusion to the electorate to approach the court if they are not in consonance with the shenanigans that transpired at various polling units on February 25, 2023. In the case of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, bristling with sweet lies, the formation of characters like Hudu-Ari did not take the electoral umpire time to mold. According to the information stumbled on by this medium, it was revealed that the suspended Adamawa REC, Hudu-Ari did not act alone in announcing the results of an election that was not concluded, making somebody who did not win election an eventual winner in the infamous announcement of Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed popularly known as Binani, the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress in Adamawa governorship election conducted recently in the state.
That infamous outing by Hudu-Ari was greeted by the rousing support of members of APC and supporters as well as security operatives who goaded him to announce the result that is non-existent. It was gathered that the script acted by Hudu-Ari was scripted at the headquarters of the electoral umpire, though allegedly, but the suspended REC of Adamawa never did a good job for the script he was handed over, reason for outrage from the headquarters of INEC. According to an inside source at INEC, Hudu-Ari is going to be made a scapegoat for messing up the script he was handed over to do. The source revealed that Professor Yakubu was miffed by the poor handling of the Adamawa case by the suspended REC and vowed that he is going to make him face the full wrath of the law.
Yakubu made good his promise when he charged the suspended REC to court to come and provide answers to why he behaved the way he did during the election in Adamawa, as his traducers in INEC are already angling to make mincemeat of the image of Hudu-Ari at the court of competent jurisdiction. The source insisted that action and inaction of Hudu-Ari in announcing the results defied the laid down rules and regulation of the electoral umpire which the suspended REC is not alone in breaching. The source further revealed that the commission was not happy with Hudu-Ari because he had exposed what hitherto is the secret of the commission by not doing his home work well before going public with result that was not authorized by the headquarters of the commission. Dr. Festus Okoye, National Election Commissioner in charge of voter education at the heat of the controversy mulled charging the suspended Adamawa REC for infraction the same commission is tirelessly trying to defend at the Presidential Election Tribunal.
The feeble method in trying to bring Hudu-Ari to book was seen in the way and manner in handling his arrest. It took the security apparatus weeks to be able to arrest him, and was given a soft landing with administrative bail even when investigation was never carried out as to what transpired before he announced the infamous result. An informed source told Tentacle that the commission was feeble in handling the case because Hudu-Ari threatened to spill the beans if pushing comes to shoving, adding that he did not act alone in what he did “why making him a scapegoat in crime that most of the RECs have been indicted in the just concluded general election?”
Hudu-Ari, a lawyer and former Secretary of Nigerian Bar Association, Bauchi Branch has not been folding his hands to watch the commission rubbish his image. The suspended Adamawa REC is from Ningi Local Government Area of Bauchi State is said to be the classmate of the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN. It was gathered that his job with the electoral umpire was facilitate by Malami who was to have convinced former President Mohammadu Buhari to engage him as the REC in Adamawa because he was going to be a valuable asset to the ruling APC in the just concluded general election, and nearly performed but the idiotic handling of the gubernatorial result in the state. Information at the disposal of this medium revealed that Hudu-Ari in conjunction with some powerful northern politicians is already fighting back. According to the information, some partisan politicians in the case have helped him to obtain court injunction restraining INEC from trying him in the law court. Hudu-Ari and his cohorts failed to obtained perpetual court injunction restraining INEC from trying him in the law court and to upturn his suspension order.
According to political pundits, the infractions of Hudu-Ari cannot be treated in isolation. Professor Yakubu, INEC boss would have saved the nation time and resources if he had followed due process in coming up with the actual winner of the February 25, 2023 presidential election by hurriedly announcing the election results devoid of procedures. Some of the infractions traced to the National Chairman of the commission may have emboldened Hudu-Ari, in doing what he did.
It would be recalled that Senator Ahmed rushed to the press to give his victory speech even when it was obvious that she did not win the election. In the heat of the controversy, one of the personnel of Department of State Service, DSS alleged that they were given money to announce the fake result in Adamawa, a statement that has further given verve to the rumour that powers that be then supervised the heist unleashed on the electorate in Adamawa State.
Professor Yakubu jettisoned the constitution of the country in the way and manner he announced the winner of the 2023 presidential election. Before he was on air to announce the results he was reminded by various party agents that the commission had abandoned the guidelines it instituted in announcing the results, he only retorted at the material time that whoever was aggrieved that he was committing infractions against the electorate and the constitution should “go to court”. The arrogance exhibited at the announcement of presidential election results in Abuja with impunity was replicated in Adamawa by Hudu-Ari. One of the influential public affairs analyst who spoke to Tentacle under anonymity said that Hudu-Ari is supposed to be tried but not in isolation of his co-travelers like the National Chairman of the commission who “is accused of infractions and is seen trying to punish somebody who followed his footsteps in the conduct and announcement of results in the just concluded general elections in the country.
“If it were to be in sane society, Professor Yakubu whose past behaviour in the public is not inspiring, should have been shown the door and made to face the wrath of the law. Now he is now going to conduct off season election in November this year, whatever results that would be churned out at that election would not pass the test of trust and sincerity”, argued the public affairs analyst.
