EXCLUSIVE: APC May Sanction Defeated Adamawa Governorship Candidate Binani

THE WHISTLER has learnt that the leadership of the ruling All-Progressives Congress, APC, is angry at the party’s governorship candidate in Adamawa State, Aishatu Binani, for her role in the just concluded election in the state.

Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party was on Tuesday declared the governor -elect after polling 430, 869 to defeat Binani, who scored 398, 788.

But the APC is said to be unhappy over her role in the election saga and may call an emergency meeting to decide on what to do.

Top Party leaders told THE WHISTLER that Binani did not open any line of communication with the party leadership in Abuja on how to handle the rescheduled supplementary election which she lost, but instead worked with a few people outside the party structure.

A member of the National Working Committee was particularly aggrieved that Binani was allegedly implicated in a N2 billion bride scandal to “rig the Adamawa election at all cost” without the party’s knowledge.

In addition to the deployment of such a huge sum, she is being blamed for quickly accepting the “illegal declaration of the result” and for delivering an acceptance speech to the chagrin of the party.

The party feels she would not have failed to know as a lawmaker what the law says regarding the conduct and declaration of result and who is vested with the power to make returns at every election.

The party said there’s no excuse whatsoever to tender here as she was “consumed by her personal ambition” than following the laid down procedures, laws and guidelines guiding the conduct and declaration of results.

This paper reports that the Adamawa State governorship election was declared inconclusive on 18 March prompting the Independent National Electoral Commission to fix a supplementary election for April 15.

Expectations were high that the election would produce Nigeria’s first female democratically elected female governor.

Most interesting was the fact that it was Adamawa State, considered to be conservative due to the high number of Islamic faithful.

However, the election descended into chaos when the now suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner, Hudu Yunusa, usurped the power of the Returning Officer to announce Binani as the winner of the election.

Even though the manner of her declaration and the fact that collation was suspended by the Returning Officer, Binani took to a live television broadcast to deliver her acceptance speech, a development the party frowned at.

The unfolding scenario alarmed the INEC who quickly issued a rejection of the declaration and immediately summoned the REC, the Collation Officer and others deployed to conduct the election to Abuja.

The celebration by Binani’s supporters was soon curtailed when it was realised that her victory was a faux pas.

Yet, she headed for the Federal High Court in Abuja to institute a suit that sought to compel a declaration that the INEC had no locus standi to upturn an already declared result.

The court however declined to hear the suit relying on jurisdiction, prompting the INEC to use the window to conclude the election with the incumbent governor, Ahmadu Fintiri ,declared the winner.

The Returning Officer, Mohammed Mele, declared that Fintiri scored 430, 869 to defeat Binani, who scored 398, 788.

The APC is expressing apprehension that it has been cast in bad light “as if it was planned by the party instead of seeing that it was Binani and Binani alone,” an NWC member stated.

He said a special meeting would be convened “to deal with the matter and she could be sanctioned.

“Most appalling is the N2 billion that was said to have been given to a deputy DSS officer in order for Hudu to rig the election.

“The APC does not know that money. Binani must explain. And that is our anger because Nigerians would think that is the nature of our party.

“Look at the social media! See the abuse and criticism! She (Binani) failed our party and it would not go just like that,” he stated.

The party source did not say the nature of sanction that Binani would be subjected to.

But when asked he said, “We can’t say but the party has a mechanism to mete out sanctions. That would be left for the party.”

The APC spokesman, Felix Morka, did not respond to text messages and calls.

However, Binani said she’s “a committed democrat” and “would not do anything that would undermine democracy.”