A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Vrati Nzonzo, claimed on Tuesday the APC governorship candidate in Adamawa State, Aisha “Binani” Dahiru, was being victimised because of her gender.
Nzonzo, who spoke in a Channels Television programme, Politics Today, said Binani clearly won the April 15 supplementary election but was denied the victory by people who were opposed to her governorship aspiration.
He declared that the announcement of the APC candidate as the winner of the election by the now suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Hudu Yunusa Ari, was the authentic result.
Nzonzo, who also the campaign coordinator for the Aishatu ‘Binani’ Dahiru Campaign Council in the state, vowed that the party would challenge the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in court for overturning Ari’s declaration in favour of Governor Ahmadu Fintiri.
The commission had on April 18 declared Fintiri as the winner of the election after he polled 430, 861 votes while Binani garnered 398,788 votes in the exercise.
The REC had earlier stirred controversy when he announced the APC candidate as the winner of the election with the results in 10 out of the 21 local government areas of the state collated by the commission.
He said: “As far as we are concerned, there seems to be a very biased position taken against our candidate. And it’s unfortunate.
“As far as we are concerned, she is being witchhunted, and she is being drowned using the media and other individuals that are out there to victimise her, may be because she is a woman. We are proud of her and her achievement.
“Mr. Hudu has already made it clear to the best of my knowledge that considering the circumstances he found himself at that moment, he had to take the responsibility and act.”
Nzonzo said the REC did the right thing by usurping the duties of the State Returning Officer, Mohammed Mele, whom he said had “disappeared” when collation of the election results resumed the next day.
“The Returning Officer disappeared. As far as I am concerned, they’ve been there all along, may be through the night.
“But the next morning, the Returning Officer had disappeared. So what Ari did is not wrong on the premise that he doesn’t want to allow a vacuum in the state, results must be announced.
“As far as I am concerned, it’s okay. If Mr. Hudu announced the election as inconclusive, why won’t he announce the winner of the election?
“When he announced the first election as inconclusive, nobody said anything. Mr. Festus Okoye was not on national television to condemn it but when on the second turn, he announced distinguished Senator Aishatu Binani as the winner of the election, all hell let loose,” he added.
