The Governor-elect of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Fintiri, and the deputy governor-elect, Prof Kaletapwa Farauta, on Wednesday received their Certificates of Return in Abuja.
According to The PUNCH, the certificates were delivered to the newly re-elected governor and his new deputy by the Independent National Electoral Commission at its national headquarters about 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
Premium Politics reported that the Returning Officer, Muhammed Melee, proclaimed Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party the winner on Tuesday after he received 430,861 votes to overcome his main opponent, Aisha Binani of the All Progressives Congress, who received 398,788 votes.
INEC reopened the collation centre for the supplementary election results on Tuesday. The supplementary election held in the state on Saturday, April 15, after the election of March 18 was declared inconclusive by INEC, following certain irregularities.
The state’s collation process was put on hold on Sunday after Hudu Yunusa-Ari, the resident electoral commissioner, pronounced Binani the election’s victor. As a result, the commission asked Yunusa-Ari to avoid the office on Monday.
After being proclaimed the winner, the governor-elect noted in his acceptance speech that he was “humbled the more.”
Fintiri praised his fellow candidates for their efforts in the governorship contest but criticised Hudu for his earlier declaration of Binani as the election’s winner.
While admitting that the REC’s actions “fell short of expectations,” he appreciated the people of Adamawa for “voting for continuity.”
