Vrati Nzonzo, the coordinator of the Binani Campaign Council for Aishatu ‘Binani’ Dahiru, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, has claimed that Binani is being unfairly targeted and persecuted because of her gender.
According to Nzonzo, individuals and the media are using witch-hunting tactics to victimize Binani. Nzonzo added that the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Adamawa State, Hudu Yunusa Ari, had declared Binani the winner of the governorship election because the Returning Officer, Mohammed Mele, had disappeared during the collation of results.
However, this claim was refuted by INEC, which nullified the declaration by Ari and suspended collation of results, citing Section 25 (2)(f) of the Electoral Act 2022. INEC later resumed collation on April 18, and Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, the incumbent and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was declared the winner of the election.
President Muhammadu Buhari has since suspended Ari and ordered his probe by security agents. Nzonzo defended Ari’s actions, claiming that he did not want a vacuum in the state and needed to announce the results. He criticized the media for targeting Binani and emphasized that the courts would decide the matter.
