Declaring Binani Winner, A Civilian Coup

A former Senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Senator Shehu Sani, says the controversial declaration of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Aisha Dahiru, aka Binani, as the winner the governorship election of Adamawa State, amounts to a “civilian coup.”

The state’s Resident Electoral Commission (REC), Hudu Yunusa, on Sunday morning stoked controversy by declaring Binani winner while collation of the Saturday’s supplementary poll had not been concluded.

However, the INEC overruled Yunusa’s declaration, suspended collation of results and summoned the REC to Abuja.

Sani in a statement he personally signed and made available to journalists in Kaduna, described the declaration as a “civilian coup.”

He, however, commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for taking the bold step to suspend the collation of the election results.

Sani said it was not enough to summon the REC and other perpetrators but also advised that the REC and the security men involved must be prosecuted.

He said, “It was obvious that the REC was out to truncate democracy in the state and by extension Nigeria if his action was allowed unchecked.

“The declaration by Adamawa REC is an equivalent of a civilian coup which stands condemnable. Our democracy can’t survive if we condone such brazen act of criminality and brigandage.

“Our political culture and attitude to election needs chemotherapy. The dangerous trend in our electoral system has gone beyond the culture of violence, vote buying and falsification of results to the most obnoxiously and brazenly crude phase of taking over the collation cenre, seizing the mic and illegally declaring the results of an election.”