On April 18, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Governor Fintiri the winner of the drama-filled supplementary election in Adamawa state.
Fintiri polled 9,337 votes in the rerun to defeat Senator Binani of the APC, who scored 6,513 votes. Overall, Fintiri garnered 430,861 votes, defeating Binani, who received 398,738 votes.
However, during the collation of the supplementary election results, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa Ari, prematurely declared Binani the winner, contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act.
The declaration caused controversy as it was made before results had been declared for all the local government areas. The REC's actions were quickly followed by an acceptance speech by the APC candidate.
In response to Binani's premature declaration, INEC declared it to be of no effect and suspended the collation of results of the supplementary election in Adamawa.
The electoral body criticised the REC for usurping the power of the Returning Officer.
