20th March, 2023
By Ibrahim Kado
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) early Monday postponed the collation of the governorship election results from Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Adamawa State until noon amidst tension.
Prof. Mohammed Mele, state collation officer and Mr Yakubu Ari, Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner, announced this on Monday after the collation of results from 20 out of the 21 LGAs.
He said that the exercise was postponed to enable verification of the results from the Fufore local government area which were snatched.
There was outbreak of violence at the INEC electoral results collation centre in Yola, Sunday night over allegations that the results sheet from the Fufore local government has been manipulated and doctored by thugs.
Before then, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP who is seeking reelection and Aisha Binani of All Progressives Congress, APC were in a very tight race.
However, the PDP agents claimed that the figures from Fufore, which is also the ancestral local government of the APC candidate, have been inflated to give advantage to Binani.
INEC therefore called for the suspension of declaration of the results so that it can pull figures from its results viewing portal, IReV, and reconcile.
Shortly before the suspension, the agents of PDP and APC had urged INEC to ensure justice in the collation of the results before the declaration.
Security agencies were also deployed to major roads in the state capital to ensure security following a protest by some political thugs in the metropolis after the adjournment.
The road leading to the INEC office had also been cordoned off from Gate II of the Jimeta modern market to the fire service roundabout.
NAN