the candidate of the All Progressives Congress , Aishatu Dahiru, as the winner of the governorship election.
In Adamawa, the commission continued the collation of results and declared that Mr Fintiri, not Mrs Dahiru, won the governorship election. He has since been presented with the certificate of return.Before 2022, Mr Ari’s wrong and illegal declaration of Mrs Dahiru, also known as Binani, might have been binding and would require the election petition tribunal to overturn.
Section 65 states that “The decision of the returning officer shall be final on any question arising from or relating to… declaration of scores of candidates and the return of a candidate… Provided that the Commission shall have the power within seven days to review the declaration and return where the Commission determines that the said declaration and return was not made voluntarily or was made contrary to the provisions of the law, regulations and guidelines, and manual for the election.
Yet, when the Independent National Electoral Commission withheld the certificate of return of Rochas Okorocha, whom Mr Ibeabuchi declared winner under duress, a federal high court chided INEC for that decision.. The court also asked the commission to pay N200,000 to the former Imo State governor for failing to immediately recognize him as the winner declared by the returning officer.worry