Binta Garba, chieftain of the APC in Adamawa State, has accused INEC officials of manipulating the outcome of the March 18 governorship poll. She stated that the votes of the APC were tampered with in some areas of the state a day after the election.
Garba made these allegations during an appearance on Friday on Channels Television’s Politics Today. She claimed that officials of INEC were forced to declare different results in Fufore local government.
“Our figures were mutilated because as of Sunday by 6 pm, the issue was Fufore local government. At that time, PDP was leading with about 25,000, but when we went to Fufore, PDP had 7,509 there, but APC had 37,000 plus,” Garba said.
Garba also alleged confusion at the collation centre, and INEC officials insisted that the man should not declare the result. The man was then taken from the centre to the police station, where they gave him another result. Garba claims to have witnessed the incident and to know the people involved.
However, INEC declared the poll inconclusive with a difference of about 31,000 votes between the PDP candidate, Umar Fintiri, and the APC candidate, Aishatu Dahiru. According to INEC, Fintiri scored 421,524 votes against Binani’s 390,275 votes.
INEC has scheduled the supplementary governorship election in Adamawa for Saturday, April 15, 2023.
