Had Ari Hudu, the disgraced Resident Electoral Officer of Adamawa State pulled off the stunt of declaring Binani of the APC as the winner of the governorship election on Saturday, he would have set a dangerous precedent in our electoral history.
The act, if it had succeeded, would have simply amounted to an electoral coup. Thus, instead of contesting and waiting for votes to be counted, any of the contestants could just bribe the REC or any other INEC official to declare him the winner.
Once a winner is declared, every other person should go to court. And not surprisingly, the same shenanigans would replay themselves at the courts because desperados don’t ever give up.
Ari Hudu was probably acting on the premise that once a result has been announced, INEC itself doesn’t have the power to reverse it. Unfortunately, his assumption was predicated on the wrong electoral official.
According to sections 64 and 65 of the electoral act, only the State Returning Officer has the onerous responsibility of announcing the election results of a governorship election. So, on this count, Ari Hudu and those he probably was working for had clearly miscalculated.
Read Also: Election: What If Corpers Were Killed?
As Nigerians await the outcome of the police investigation on the matter, I must commend the bravery of INEC’s high command for standing on the path of legality, legitimacy, and logic. Ari Hudu must be sacked immediately and must never be entrusted with any public office ever again.
CREDIT: Facebook.com / Uzogara Tobechukwu
Disclaimer: “The views/contents expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of Uzogara Tobechukwu and do not necessarily reflect those of The World Satellite (TWS). TWS will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements contained in this article.”
