A Federal High Court in Abuja has refused to extend its July 10 interim order stopping the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) from prosecuting the suspended Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa Ari.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the court had ordered parties in the motion filed by Senator Aishatu Dahiru, also known as Binani, which had INEC, IGP and the AGF as defendants, to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The Court also asked the defendants to appear before it on July 18 to show cause why they should not be permanently restrained from prosecuting the suspended Adamawa State REC.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, INEC’s counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), told the court that the applicant had not served the defendants with the July 10 order of the court.
Jacobs, who also told the court that the defendants have not been served with the originating summons filed by Binani, had, in a counter affidavit to the motion, challenged the competence and the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter.
He told the court that the life span of the interim order elapsed on July 18.
However, counsel to Binani, Michael Aondoaka (SAN), argued that the interim order has not elapsed as the defendants have not shown cause as directed by the court.
According to Aondoaka, counsel to INEC cannot say he was not served with the processes of the court as he had joined issues in the matter.
Justice Donatus Okorowo, however, adjourned the matter till Monday, July 24, for hearing the originating summons served on the defendants in court on Tuesday.
The court also refused to grant the applicant’s request for an order restraining INEC from prosecuting the suspended REC.
Recall that in the early hours of Sunday, April 16, 2023, Nigerians were shocked by the declaration of Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed as the winner of the Adamawa State Governorship elections by the Adamawa REC, Ari.
The public outcry and condemnation arose because, according to the 2022 Electoral Act, the announcement was supposed to be made by the State Returning/Collation Officer, not the REC. Moreover, the results were still being collected when Ari made the controversial declaration.
Allegations were that the INEC REC sneaked into the state governorship collation centre to declare Senator Ahmed as the winner. However, according to the official results released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Binani was trailing behind Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, who had a lead of 31,249 votes before the untimely declaration.
Before the supplementary polls, Fintiri had already received 421,524 votes compared to Binani’s 390,275 votes. However, the state returning officer, Professor Mohammed Mele, couldn’t declare Fintiri the winner because the margin of lead didn’t exceed the number of cancelled votes in 69 polling units, totalling 37,016. This led to a supplementary election.
During the resumption of the collation of results from the supplementary polls held on Saturday, April 15, 2023, a mild drama unfolded. Ari, who had abruptly suspended the collation exercise and rescheduled it for 11 am on Sunday, April 6, arrived at the collation centre at 9:00 am, two hours ahead of schedule, to declare Binani the winner.
In response to widespread condemnation, INEC urged Nigerians to disregard the action of the Adamawa REC. INEC accused him of usurping the powers of the Returning Officer, Professor Mele, by prematurely announcing the results that had not been properly tallied and concluded.
Taking further action, INEC declared Ari’s announcement null and void, having no legal effect.
The electoral body later summoned the Resident Electoral Commissioner to its headquarters in Abuja for questioning, although he was later set free.
