THE Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that the April 15 re-run governorship election in Adamawa State is fair and credible.
Speaking during a press briefing in Yola on Thursday, April 6, Chairman of IPAC in Adamawa State, Bello Babajo also called for the appointment of a new Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) ahead of the poll.
“The 2023 election has come and gone in some places, while in Adamawa ours is inconclusive as declared by INEC due to their own reasons. Adamawa State is a peaceful state which has never experienced any political crisis in the history of political struggles.
“We call on all citizens to remain calm as we continue to enjoy our peaceful co-existence as we pursue it in a legitimate procedure,” he said.
INEC had declared the March 18 governorship election in Adamawa State inconclusive.
The Commission had explained that the margin of victory recorded between the two leading contestants was less than the number of cancelled votes in the state.
Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Aishatu Dahiru Binani and the incumbent governor, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Ahmadu Fintiri, are leading in the already collated votes.
Finitiri had polled 421,524 votes while Binani got 390,275, leaving a margin of 30,000 votes between them.
The incumbent governor won in 13 of Adamawa’s 21 local government areas while Binani won eight.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.