Fintiri: Adamawa guber poll was free and fair — Binani’s call for review needless

Ahmadu Fintiri, governor of Adamawa, says the governorship election in the state was “free and fair” but marred by “overvoting”.

Speaking on Sunday in an interview with Channels Television, Fintiri criticised those who spread “fake news” about the conduct of the March 18 elections.

The Adamawa governor said overvoting recorded in some polling units does not negate the credibility of the poll.

“Not only was it (Adamawa governorship election) free and fair, I think it was one of the most credible elections ever conducted in the state,” he said.

“Because there was overvoting, that doesn’t mean it was characterised by violence. It was free and fair.

“For INEC to declare that there was overvoting and they cancelled the election in those polling units, it means that know their job.”

BACKGROUND

On March 20, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the Adamawa governorship election as inconclusive.

Mohammed Mele, the collation officer, announced that Fintiri scored 421,524 votes while Aisha Binani, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), polled 390, 275 votes.

He said the margin between the two top candidates is less than the total number of potential voters — 37,016 — in 69 polling units where elections were cancelled.

Reacting to the development, Binani asked INEC to review the results of some LGAs.

FINTIRI KICKS AGAINST REVIEW OF GUBER POLL

The Adamawa governor criticised Binani for asking INEC to review the results of the governorship election before organising a rerun.

“Why would it (election) be reviewed? It was not reviewed anywhere. It was not reviewed for the presidential election,” he added.

“Why does she (Binani) want the election to be reviewed when we have already gone to the IReV and downloaded the results of Fufore LGA? What is more review than that?”

He added that election results do not connote performance, adding that he can win a third governorship election in the state if allowed by the law.