Adamawa Election: Suspended REC Should Be Punished – Falana

 

Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana has called for embattled Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Adamawa State, Hudu Yunusa-Ari to be sanctioned.

 

This comes after the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Hudu Yunusa-Ari had on Sunday, declared the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa, Aisha Dalhiru Binani, as the winner when the collation of results was still ongoing.

 

Following the development, INEC, in a statement on Sunday, discontinued the collation of results and nullified the declaration made by the Adamawa REC.

 

On Tuesday, the electoral body continued the collation of election results and announced the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP, Ahmadu Fintiri as the winner.

 

During an appearance on Channels TV on Thursday, Falana demanded that Yunusa-Ari, who is a lawyer, should be sanctioned by the disciplinary committee of the Nigerian Bar Association.

 

The senior lawyer stated that the law recommended strict sanctions for any form of electoral conspiracy, malfeasance, and financial inducement.

 

Falana also commended INEC for the swift action taken to ensure that proper response was implemented, adding that except actions are taken holistically, impunity and aberrations would be repeatedly committed.

 

He said: “The Nigerian Bar Association has to come in, the NBA has to write a petition, to the legal practitioner disciplinary committee for immediate sanction to serve as a lesson because he has brought the legal profession into disrepute.”