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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the Adamawa State governorship election inconclusive.
Making the announcement at the Collation Centre in Yola, capital of Adamawa, on Monday, March 20, 2023, the state Returning Officer, Prof. Mohammed Mele, said the decision became necessary because a clear winner had not emerged after collation of results from all the 21 Local Government Areas in the state.
The governorship contest in the North-Eastern state was a two-horse race between the incumbent governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ahmadu Fintiri and Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed popularly known as Binani who is running on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
After the collation of results, the Returning Officer said Fintiri polled a total of 421,524 while his closest challenger recorded a total of 390,275 votes.
However, despite the difference of 31,249 votes, the commission said a winner can't be declared because the total number of Voters Cards collected in polling units where elections were cancelled is 37,016.
This leaves room for a possible scenario where the candidate in the second position could potentially catch up and surpass the leading candidate.
Relying on the provision of the Electoral Act, which stipulated that if the number of PVCs collected in areas where elections didn't hold or cancelled is greater than the margin of lead, a supplementary election shall be held to determine a winner, Mele declared the election inconclusive.
He also disclosed that INEC will announce a date when supplementary elections will be held in the polling units where votes were cancelled or elections failed to hold in the state.
Pulse reports that results collation had earlier been suspended for hours on Monday following a disagreement over results from the Fufore LG as a PDP agent alleged that the results sheet has been doctored and figures inflated.
The commission called for a break to allow it enough time to examine the complaints and reconcile the figures in the presence of all the party agents.