INEC issues certificate of return to Fintiri, deputy

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has issued a certificate of return to Ahmadu Fintiri, governor-elect of Adamawa state.

Fitiri and his deputy governor-elect, Kaletapwa Farauta, received their certificates of return on Wednesday at the INEC headquarters in Abuja.

The electoral umpire declared Fintiri as the winner of the Adamawa governorship election on Tyesday
Fintiri, who contested the election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 430,861 votes to defeat Aisha ‘Binani’ Dahiru, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 398,788 votes.
INEC had earlier declared the March 18 governorship election in the state inconclusive and fixed the supplementary election for April 15.
On April 15, the supplementary election was conducted in Adamawa.
However, controversy set in at the collation of the supplementary election results after, the resident electoral commissioner (REC) in the state Hudu Yunusa-Ari declared Binani the winner of the election.

Mele Lamido, the returning officer, was absent when Yunusa-Ari declared Binani as the winner of the election without figures

Lamido as the collation officer is empowered by law to declare the winner of the election.

The action of the REC sparked controversy as INEC suspended the collation exercise and asked Yunusa-Ari to stay away from the office.