Adamawa gov re-run: PDP accuses INEC of creating more polling units

The Peoples Democratic Party’s Presidential and Governorship Campaign Council has condemned alleged plans by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to increase the number of polling units for the Adamawa State governorship re‑run—from 69 to 77—although a date for the re‑run has not yet been set. The March 18 governorship election in Adamawa was declared inconclusive by the state collation and returning officer, Professor Mohammed Mele. Although PDP candidate Governor Ahmadu Fintiri received 421,524 votes, ahead of APC candidate Senator Aishatu Binani’s 390,275, Mele could not declare a winner because the number of cancelled votes in 69 polling units affected by election violence across 47 registration areas exceeded the margin of 31,249 votes between the two leading candidates. He noted that 69 polling units were cancelled, involving 41,796 registered voters and 37,016 permanent voter cards collected, and that the higher number of PVCs than votes for the PDP candidate rendered the election inconclusive. INEC will now set a date for a re‑run.

On Thursday in Adamawa State, the PDP called on INEC to uphold the commission’s independence, which it says has been compromised by actions of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Yunusa Ari. Speaking to journalists at the Government House in Yola, Felix Tangwami, representing the party’s Presidential and Governorship Campaign Council, said the party no longer trusts the REC’s neutrality. He accused Yunusa Ari of conspiring to favor the APC and of submitting to INEC headquarters a figure of 77 cancelled polling units—rather than the 66 reported by Professor Mele—creating a discrepancy of eight additional units. The PDP pledged to provide all evidence it possesses to demonstrate that the REC has breached his oath of impartiality and urged INEC to remove him from overseeing the governorship re‑run.

Tangwami further demanded an investigation into what the party calls the “Hudu Yunusa election manipulation theory,” insisting that the REC’s lack of independence has eroded confidence in his ability to act as an impartial umpire. In response, Resident Electoral Commissioner Yunusa Ari dismissed the PDP’s allegations as frivolous. Speaking by phone, Ari asserted that he has performed his duties without bias, guided by his conscience and accountability before God.