COVER
Confusion Trails Adamawa Guber Re-run Election
By Jude Opara, Johnson Eyiangho (Abuja) & Yagana Ali, Yola
There is confusion within the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as the Commission denounced the purported declaration of Senator Aisha Dahiru, popularly known as Binani, as the winner of the Adamawa State governorship election.
The controversial declaration was made by the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa, Barrister Hudu Yunusa.
INEC, last month declared the Adamawa State governorship election inconclusive and ordered a rerun on April 15.
Although final results tallied by INEC showed that Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored the highest votes, INEC said the cancelled votes were more than the margin of victory between Fintiri and the runner-up, Aisha Dahiru of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
As at the time of the rerun, official results showed Mr Fintiri leading Mrs Dahiru, popularly called Binani, with a margin of over 30,000 votes.
The incumbent governor scored 421,524 votes while Mrs Dahiru won 390,275 votes.
But in a swift reaction after the declaration of Aisha as the winner of the election yesterday, INEC, in a statement signed by its National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education (IVEC), Barrister Festus Okoye announced the suspension of the collation of results of the supplementary election.
The statement said the action of the REC amounts to usurpation of the power of the Returning Officer, insisting it is null, void and of no effect whatsoever.
It said that the process had not been concluded before the declaration of the result of the supplementary election held Saturday.
Subsequently, INEC has directed the REC and the Returning Officer to report to the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja with immediate effect.
“The attention of the Commission has been drawn to a purported declaration of winner in the Adamawa Governorship election by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Hudu Yunusa-Ari.
“The action of the REC is a usurpation of the power of the Returning Officer. It is null, void and of no effect.
“Consequently, the collation of results of the supplementary election is hereby suspended.
“The REC, Returning Officer and all involved are hereby invited to the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja immediately,” the statement read.
It could be recalled that INEC had promised to deliver an exercise that would be seen to be free, fair and credible in the supplementary elections across the country.
Earlier, the Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Barrister Hudu Inusa Ari had declared Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed winner of the State governorship rerun election while collation of results were still ongoing.
The declaration was also made in the absence of all officials and many party agents and the state Returning Officer.
Hudu, while announcing Binani as the winner, said he was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the only person to remove him, hence he has the power to declare the winner.
“I am appointed by Mr President and is only the president that will stop me from doing my work as REC in Adamawa,” Hudu said.
According to him when they started collation of the result some of his colleagues from INEC headquarters asked him to step aside, they are now in charge of the collation and hastily moved out to Abuja.
PDP Insists Fintiri Wins, Urges Nigerians to Disregard Result
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to announce the results already collated from the Polling Units in the Adamawa Governorship election and declare its candidate, Governor Fintiri as winner.
PDP warned that “anything short of this will not be accepted by our party and the people of Adamawa State”.
Speaking at a news conference yesterday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, called on the people of Adamawa State, Nigerians and the International Community to disregard the purported declaration of the Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Aisha Binani as winner of the state Governorship election.
Ologunagba also demanded the immediate arrest and prosecution of the Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mallam Hudu Yunusa Ari, for making “illegal declaration in criminal usurpation of the duties and powers of the Returning Officer, Prof Mohammed Mele, while collation was on-going”.
“It is even more absurd that the Adamawa State REC did not only usurp the powers of the Returning Officer but attempted to declare a winner without figures in reckless violation of the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act, 2022, INEC Guidelines as well as the sensibility of the people of Adamawa State.
“This reprehensible criminal conduct of the Adamawa State REC confirms the earlier alarms by the PDP which demanded for his immediate removal from Adamawa State following evidence of his complicity and being compromised by the APC and its candidate to manipulate the election in their favour notwithstanding the votes by the people of Adamawa State.
“Mallam Yunusa Ari’s action is subversive and calculated to cause crisis in Adamawa State, destabilize our democracy and peaceful co-existence as a nation. We call on the Inspector General of Police to immediately arrest Mallam Yunusa Ari and make him face the full wrath of the law for his conduct.
“The PDP notes the pronouncement by INEC Headquarters that the action of Mallam Yunusa Ari is “null, void and of no effect”. The PDP therefore demands that INEC Headquarters should immediately direct the Returning Officer to conclude collation, announce the results from the Polling Units and declare our candidate, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri as winner, having scored the majority of lawful votes cast.
“From the results already collated across the 69 Polling Units where the supplementary elections held and which are on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal, Governor Fintiri clearly won the election,” Ologunagba added.
APC’s Idris Wins Kebbi Governorship Election
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday declared Dr Nasiru Idris of All Progressives Congress (APC) as Governor-elect of Kebbi.
INEC had declared the March 18 governorship election in the state inconclusive.
A rerun election was held on Saturday in 142 polling units spread across 20 of the 21 Local Government Areas of the state.
The final result was announced at the INEC headquarters in Birnin Kebbi by the Returning Officer, Prof. Yusuf Sa’idu of Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto.
He said Idris polled 409,225 votes to defeat his closest contestant, retired Maj.-Gen. Aminu Bande of PDP who scored 360,940 votes, while Alhaji Udu Idris of People’s Redemption Party, scored 3,103 votes.
The returning officer explained that the total votes cast stood at 800,560, out of which valid votes were 781,478, while 19,082 votes were rejected.
“I, Prof. Yusuf Sa’idu, the Returning Officer of the governorship election held on April 15, 2023, declare that Nasiru Idris of APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law and scored the highest number of votes, is hereby returned elected as Governor of Kebbi,” he added. (NAN)
By Laide Akinboade, Abuja
As part of efforts to reposition the newspaper for optimum corporate performance, the management of Asset Newspapers Limited, Publishers of DAILY ASSET, has announced the appointment of David Torough as the Editor of the Abuja-based national daily.
A statement by the management said the appointments were part of the company’s new strategy to further penetrate the various states in the country and raise its readership and patronage.
“DAILY ASSET is widely acceptable across the country and to maintain our leadership position, we need to increase management presence, hence the need to create new Bureau offices in some locations outside Abuja and Lagos,” the statement quoted the Publisher/ Editor-in-Chief, Dr Cletus Akwaya to have said.
In a statement yesterday, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the fast-growing daily, Dr. Cletus Akwaya said the appointment was part of the new strategy to properly situate the paper for better productivity.
“DAILY ASSET has a commitment with the Nigerian people. We are determined to weather the storm and give Nigerian readers a Newspaper that satisfies their yearnings and reading pleasure and we can only do that with the right set of professionals,” the statement said.
Akwaya, a former Commissioner of Information from Benue State said the difficult times being faced by Nigerians posed a great challenge to the media as the people deserved credible information with which to make choices.
“We have a bond with the people, to offer credible information at all times in the best tradition of the Nigerian Press and on this scale of objectivity, truth and fairness, we pledge to remain steadfast no matter the challenges,” Akwaya was quoted to have said.
He said the newspaper will maiantin its daily print run and circulation to all states of the federation and urged advertisers to take advantage of the deep penetration of the Daily Asset brand to send their messages.
Torough, the new Editor has had a steady rise in the Newspaper in the last five years.
A graduate of Mass communication of the Benue State University, Makurdi, Torough joined the company in 2022 as Benue State Correspondent. He was spotted for his brilliance and redeployed to Abuja the following year and promoted to Deputy News Editor. He was subswuently named Deputy Editor of the paper, a position he held until the recent appointment.
Torough has attended several journalistic workshops and trainings to properly equip himself for the task ahead.
The statement also said the Management named Eze Okechukwu as Deputy Editor.
Before his elevation as Deputy Editor, Eze has been Deputy Politics Editor and DAILY ASSET Newspaper correspondent covering the Senate, having joined the organization in 2021.
Born on March 10, 1975, Eze holds a Masters Degree in Mass Communication from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology.
Eze began his journalism career with Daily Star, Enugu and later worked with Daily Trust Newspaper, Abuja as sports reporter.
Aside from his journalistic excellence, he has a great deal of passion for sports.
From Ngutor Dekera, Kaduna and Aliyu Askira, Kano
Northern governors and traditional rulers yesterday called for the suspension of mining activities across the region for six months, blaming illegal mining for worsening insecurity in many states.
The resolution was contained in a communiqué issued after a joint meeting of the Northern States Governors’ Forum and the Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council held at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna. The meeting, chaired by the Gombe State Governor and NSGF Chairman, Muhammadu Yahaya, had in attendance the 19 northern governors and chairmen of the 19 states’ traditional councils.The Forum expressed concern over the escalating violence in parts of the North, including the killings and abductions recently recorded in Kebbi, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Sokoto, Jigawa and Kano states, as well as renewed Boko Haram attacks in Borno and Yobe.“The Forum extends its deepest condolences and solidarity to the governments and good people of the affected states,” the communiqué said, noting that the attacks on schoolchildren and other citizens had become “unacceptable tragedies” that required urgent collective action.It commended President Bola Tinubu for what it described as the Federal Government’s “firm response” to recent abductions and insurgency threats, especially the rescue of some abducted pupils.The governors also saluted security agencies for their sacrifices on the frontlines.“We resolved to renew our support for every step taken by the President and Commander-in-Chief to take the fight to insurgents’ enclaves in order to end the criminality,” the Forum stated.A major highlight of the meeting was the North’s renewed push for the establishment of state police, with governors and traditional rulers insisting that decentralised policing had become inevitable.“The Forum reaffirms its wholehearted support and commitment to the establishment of state police,” the communiqué added, urging federal and state lawmakers from the region to “expedite action for its actualisation.”On illegal mining, the governors said criminal mining networks were fuelling violence and providing resources for armed groups.As a corrective measure, they asked Tinubu to direct the Minister of Solid Minerals to impose a six-month suspension of mining activities in order to allow for a full audit and revalidation of licences.“The Forum observed that illegal mining has become a major contributory factor to the security crises in Northern Nigeria. “We strongly recommend a suspension of mining exploration for six months to allow proper audit and to arrest the menace of artisanal illegal mining,” it said.To strengthen the fight against insecurity, the governors also announced the creation of a regional Security Trust Fund.Under the proposed arrangement, each state and its local governments will contribute ₦1bn monthly, to be deducted at source under an agreed framework.They said the fund would help provide sustainable financing for joint operations, intelligence-driven interventions and coordinated security responses across the region.At the end of the meeting, the Forum reaffirmed its commitment to unity and collective responsibility.“Only through unity, peer review and cooperation can we overcome the pressing challenges before us,” it declared.The Forum agreed to reconvene on a date to be announced.Meanwhile, Nigeria’s worsening security crisis took a grim turn on Monday as bandits launched fresh attacks in Kano State, abducting 25 villagers, even as the Federal Government raced to secure the release of more than 300 Catholic school children kidnapped in Niger State.In the early hours of Monday, armed bandits invaded Unguwar Tsamiya—popularly called Dabawa—in Shanono Local Government Area of Kano State, whisking away nine men and two women after shooting into the air and assaulting residents. The attackers also rustled two cows.A resident lamented the community’s helplessness: “We cannot do otherwise; most of us cannot leave because we have nowhere to go. This is our place, our land and everything is here.”The assault came less than 24 hours after a similar attack on Yan Kamaye in Tsanyawa LGA, a community along the volatile Katsina border.In Niger State, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu has assured distraught families of St. Mary’s Co-Education School, Kontagora that the more than 300 students and staff abducted on November 21 will return home “soon.” Ribadu, who led a high-level federal delegation to the school on Monday, said the abductees are safe, though he offered no specifics on their location or the status of rescue operations.According to Daniel Atori, spokesman for the Catholic bishop overseeing the school, the NSA reassured officials: “The children are where they are and will come back safely.”The St. Mary’s attack is part of a worrying resurgence of mass kidnappings reminiscent of the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction. Security analysts warn that banditry has evolved into a “structured, profit-seeking industry,” with hundreds of Nigerians abducted in November alone.The Kontagora school abduction occurred the same week 25 girls were kidnapped in Kebbi State—victims who authorities say have since been rescued through “non-kinetic” means. About 50 of the St. Mary’s hostages have also managed to escape.Ribadu’s delegation, which included the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), reaffirmed the government’s commitment to securing the freedom of all abducted citizens.As communities from Kano to Niger continue to bear the brunt of these violent incursions, the escalating spate of kidnappings underscores the urgent national demand for a more decisive and coordinated security response.
By David Torough, Abuja
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said former Attorney‑General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, will face a team of interrogators at its office daily throughout December.
A credible source in the EFCC said on Monday that the daily appearance was part of an ongoing investigation into the whereabouts of an alleged 490 million dollars Abacha loot secured through a Mutual Legal Assistance (MLAT) request. The source said that Malami, who was summoned for interrogation by the EFCC on Saturday, was barred from leaving Nigeria for the next one month.According to the source, one of the conditions for his release on Saturday was that he should report daily to the EFCC Headquarters in Abuja for further interrogation.The source said Malami would have to appear daily at the anti-graft office due to the volume of the investigation and the seriousness of the charges against him.”We seized his passport, it is the normal routine during investigation, but he has to report at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja every day for the next month.”He will be reporting for further investigation throughout December.”He will be reporting every day, starting from Dec. 1st to Dec. 31st.He will appear before the team of investigators for the entire month of December.”He will be reporting to EFCC for investigation for the period because of the volume of the investigation and the seriousness of the charges against him,” the source added.According to the source, a fact sheet on the former minister revealed that Malami had several issues to clarify with the EFCC within the coming weeks.“We have asked him to explain the whereabouts of the $490 million Abacha loot secured through MLAT.“We didn’t say he stole money, but he should account for the loot. This is one of the issues he will clarify to our investigators.”The commission cited the large volume of documents he must review and the need for extensive interviews as reasons for seizing his passport.The source said EFCC would not engage in a war of words but would release its findings after a thorough investigation.Malami, in a statement by his media aide, Mohammed Doka, on Monday in Abuja, however, described the EFCC investigation as a political witch‑hunt.He confirmed he honored an EFCC invitation on Nov. 28, describing the engagement as fruitful and expressing confidence that the probe would vindicate him.Malami described the EFCC’s allegations as baseless, illogical and devoid of substance, insisting they collapse under factual scrutiny.
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