Suspended Adamawa REC Drags INEC, Police, AGF, Others To Court, Seeks Enforcement Of Fundamental Rights

*Describes Media Trial By INEC Officials As A Violation Of His Fundamental Rights
*Prays Court To Restrain Respondents From Arresting Him

The Resident Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission for Adamawa State, Hudu Yunusa Ari, has on Wednesday 26^th April, sued at the Federal High Court in Abuja for an enforcement of his fundamental human rights. He brought this through an originating motion and jointly sued the Independent National Electoral Commission; the Inspector General of Police; the Nigerian Police Force, as well as the Department of State Security for a breach of his fundamental human right during the just concluded Adamawa State Gubernatorial elections.

In his affidavit, he claimed to have submitted his interim report and reported that during the collation of results at Fufore Local Government Area, thugs had invaded the collation center and disrupted the process which led the electoral officer and the collation officer to have run to the nearest police station. Subsequently, the police, instead of sending more police officers to maintain calm and normalcy had instead, turned the police station to the collation center. He claimed to have been threatened by agents of the ruling political party in Adamawa when he delayed in announcing the results.

Sequel to this, the opposing political parties had rejected the results claiming that they were not part of the process and so, would not accept it. Also, there was a high varying of results from the local government area. This subsequently led to the declaration of the governorship elections as inconclusive. This had erupted tension in the state and led to another elections to be conducted on 15^th of April, which was upon a recommendation he made in his report after the first election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission had sent two national officers to help with the conduct of the supplementary elections of the state. The officers had held meetings with staff of INEC in the state in his absence and had subsequently resulted into a sudden move to change the list of collation officers.  Subsequently, the supplementary elections had been greeted with unsatisfaction by the various political parties which led to him asking for the results of the sixty nine polling units where the elections were held. He noticed a difference between the results uploaded on the iRev portal and the ones submitted to him.

He further claimed that police officers from the government house were sent to his house to detain him but the commissioner of police in the state has sent other police officers which had led to the police officers from the government house to flee. He subsequently, based on the results presented to him, made a breakdown of the valid votes cast and the valid accredited voters to make the declaration of results in his capacity as the Resident Electoral Commissioner and the Chief Collation Officer.

He also alleged that prior before his own declaration of the results that the national officers were in a meeting at the government house. Proceeding further, he stated that the media trial, interviews and allegations by INEC, particularly, the National Commissioner for Voters Education and Publicity were untrue and pleaded with the court to come to his rescue so that the truth of the matter be heard as against what is being peddled on the internet and the media as a whole.

In the process which was tendered to the court several exhibits were annexed amongst which was the polling units results as well as other electoral materials used during the elections. Particularly, his reports of the elections which he submitted on 25^th April, which INEC had after seeing it, tagged “NOT RECEIVED” was also attached.

The originating motion contained several prayers to the court of which he sought a declaration that his fundamental right was infringed and sought for perpetual injunction mandating the Independent National Electoral Commission to apologize to him on National Newspapers.