While the country was still smarting from the general condemnation of the 2023 presidential and governorship elections for not meeting basic expectations, the ignominy about the electoral processes in the country was taken to a most ridiculous level during the supplementary election in Adamawa State. While the collation of results was still ongoing and in utter disregard for the provisions of the law which authorise only the appointed Returning Officer (RO) to be in charge of announcing the collated results, the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Ari, preemptively and publicly announced Aisha Dahiru (Binani) of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as the winner of the governorship election. Strangely, there was a full complement of the heads of security agencies in attendance when Hudu carried out this morally reprehensible and illegal act at the collation centre. The declaration, which was made in violation of the extant laws, attracted a swift acceptance speech by the announced “winner,” which was relayed on live television as if the whole process had been choreographed with roles assigned. Nigerians naturally expected Dahiru, a distinguished senator of the Federal Republic, to have been at least interested in the propriety of the means that led to the end which she gleefully embraced, but they were thoroughly disappointed.

It is imperative to mention that the embarrassing incident nearly threw the state into a conflagration as many questioned the move and stormed the streets in protest, but the prompt response from the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in denouncing the purported declaration and dissociating itself from it saved the situation. The commission has since completed the normal processes of collation of results, which produced the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ahmadu Fintiri, as the eventual winner. But while the illegal declaration subsisted, Nigeria became the butt of jokes around the world as the epitome of imponderable acts of impunity, even in otherwise clear things. That is highly unfortunate.

We do not know whether it would be possible in the long run to change the country’s negative and unflattering image on account of the distortions in the last elections, especially given the recklessness displayed in Adamawa by its REC. However, we strongly believe that the starting point in correcting things has to be clear and unmistakable action against the REC and those who associated with and supported him in putting up the show of shame. In this connection, it is commendable that the president has approved the immediate suspension of the Adamawa REC following a report by INEC, even as the Inspector General of Police (IGP) has announced the commencement of investigation into his conduct, also on the strength of a formal complaint from INEC. But Nigerians and the world also need to see concrete actions to make the REC and his collaborators pay significantly in personal terms through prosecution and the imposition of heavy penalties. The government should not tell Nigerians that the REC has vanished into thin air. We expect decisive handling and punishment of the open and undeniable atrocities of the REC and others involved in this attempt to truncate the processes of elections. That should expose other virulent actors during the general election. We hope that Nigerians will mount enough sustained public pressure to make this possible.

On a brighter side, the spate of desperate and precipitate actions by vested interests in electoral outcomes tends to suggest increasing voter vigilance. The brazen, though botched, electoral heist in Adamawa implies that the traditional avenues for perpetrating electoral malfeasance had been largely plugged; otherwise, an electoral umpire would not have needed to resort to bizarre and desperate actions to alter electoral results in favour of his preferred candidate. We expect Nigerians to keep insisting that their votes must count while the government should officially brace up to the challenge posed by desperate and virulent actors like the Adamawa REC in electoral process. And one of the surest ways to stymie the emergence of precipitate actions by stakeholders in the electoral process is to make an example of Citizen Hudu Ari.

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