The police have arrested and began grilling the suspended Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Barr. Hudu Yunusa-Ari, at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, over alleged impropriety during the April 15 supplementary governorship poll in Adamawa State.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, confirmed to journalists that Yunusa-Ari and other suspects were in police custody and were being questioned.
“Barrister Yunusa-Ari, who was arrested by the Police Election Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation Team in Abuja on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, is currently in police custody and he’s being grilled to ascertain the motives and motivations behind his alleged improper actions during the supplementary elections in Adamawa State.
“In addition, other officials and individuals culpable in the saga are being interrogated by the team.
“The Inspector-General of Police has given clear assurance that every individual involved/indicted in the matter will be apprehended and investigated in line with the provisions of the law for possible prosecution.
“The IG has assured of the commitment of the Force to ensuring that justice is served in this case and that all guilty parties are brought to justice.”
However, the suspended Adamawa REC was quoted to have said, in an interview with BBC Hausa prior to his arrest, that he had no regrets about announcing the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Aisha Dahiru, popularly known as Binani, as the winner of the 2023 governorship election Adamawa State.
He said, “I don’t have the papers with me here but both in the main and supplementary elections, Binani scored 428,173 while Fintiri got 422,303 votes.
“I have no regrets at all as I acted under the law; it is the law that warranted what I did and it shall absolve me.”
On accusations of receiving N2bn to pull off the electoral stunt, Ari told BBC Hausa that, “I never demanded any gratification from either of Binani or Fintiri. None of the duo sent anything to me; if they had done so, by now they will be demanding their money back.”
