Former Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa State, Nigeria, Barr. Hudu Ari, has reaffirmed his stance that the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Senator Aisha Binani, won the 2023 gubernatorial election, despite the official declaration of Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner.
Speaking with journalists in his private residence in Bauchi, Ari, who was recently dismissed from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), claimed he possesses documentary evidence proving Binani’s victory.
Holding a copy of the Holy Qur’an, he alleged that both INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and the election tribunal ignored his evidence of electoral irregularities. According to him, he and other officials faced immense pressure to declare Fintiri the winner, with threats to their security if they refused.
Ari accused INEC’s Head of ICT in Adamawa, Bala Aji, of compromising the election process by allegedly surrendering about 20,000 election documents to Governor Fintiri and engaging in vote-buying. He further claimed that security agencies discovered state government officials working directly with these documents in a private residence belonging to the governor.
He also alleged that Aji distributed Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines and foreign currency to election staff on polling day. Despite sending reports of these alleged infractions to INEC headquarters, Ari lamented that his concerns were “swept under the carpet.”
The embattled former REC expressed frustration over what he described as a lack of fair hearing in his case. He stated that while his dismissal did not bother him, the media trial had severely damaged his reputation. Ari added that he is consulting his family on whether to pursue legal action to challenge his removal.
“My sack by the President did not bother me, but the media trial has dented my image. I did not collect ₦2 billion from any politician,” he insisted.
Despite the controversy surrounding his tenure, Ari maintained that he conducted the presidential and National Assembly elections successfully and was overseeing the gubernatorial and state assembly elections when the crisis erupted in 69 polling units.
