The Governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Fintiri, has expressed his support for the prosecution of the alleged perpetrators of what he describes as the criminality behind the drama that played out at the governorship rerun.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Fintiri, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, the winner on Tuesday.

The announcement came amid political intrigue that saw his closest rival, Senator Aishatu ‘Binani’ Dahiru of the All Progressives Congress (APC), declared the winner on Sunday, while collation was still underway.

“I think everybody has learnt his lesson,” Fintiri said during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, moments after his victory was made official.

“INEC itself, as an umpire, has learnt a lot of lessons and it has corrected its wrongs so that it can protect itself as an institution. The police that are supposed to protect democracy became caught up in the whole saga. It’s unfortunate. It’s a disgrace.

“But I think everybody is picking up and they are trying to correct their wrongs. Time will tell if these people will be properly prosecuted. But if they don’t prosecute this criminality that took place in Adamawa State, I am going to prosecute them.”

He did not identify those he thought should be prosecuted.

However, INEC has since resolved to write the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, to probe and prosecute the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa State, Hudu Ari.

Similarly, the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, ordered the immediate replacement of the Commissioner of Police on election duty in Adamawa, Mohammed Barde, with his counterpart in Gombe State, CP Etim Equa.

Fintiri, asked to share his perspective on rare instance of a governorship race with a woman as a frontrunner, argued that Binani was not the one he was running against.

“I don’t think I have run against any woman in Adamawa State. I ran against enemies of democracy outside Adamawa State and their gang-up has not gotten anywhere. I think, for now, we give God the glory,” he said.

Asked further who would be ganging up against him and why, the governor said, “They decided to be enemies of democracy and the only scapegoat they could find is in Adamawa State.

“They wanted to put a woman [from] their party, forgetting that we have performed excellently well in Adamawa State, our people love us.”

According to him, the people of the state voted for continuity and what he described as excellent rural and urban infrastructure.

“They have voted for human and capital development that we have laid a very good foundation for. They have voted for an excellent healthcare system and programme of the state. They have voted for healthcare insurance,” he said.

“They have voted for continuation of free and quality education in the state. They voted for free payment of WAEC and NECO, and other excellent things that have life very meaningful for the good people of the state.” (Channels TV)