Hudu Yunusa Ari: Encumbered in Form of disgrace

“Politics is the artwork of in search of trouble, discovering it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong treatment.” —Ernest Benn At last, the embattled suspended Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu-Yunusa Ari, has been smoked out from his hideout and now cooling his toes in police custody. Continue Reading…

The development was confirmed by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi.

He is currently being interrogated at the Force headquarters, Louis Edet House, over alleged impropriety during the April 15 supplementary governorship poll in the state.

Yunusa-Ari had stirred controversy after declaring the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Aisha Dahiru Binani, as the winner of the Adamawa State governorship election, when the collation of results was yet to concluded. This is contrary to the Electoral Act.

His despicable action was followed by a swift response by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) proclaiming Yunusa- Ari’s declaration as null and void, of no effect while he was summoned to its headquarters in Abuja. He failed to honour the invitation.

Following his failure to honour the summons and with his whereabouts unknown, the electoral umpire was left with no other alternative than to write the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, asking it to apprehend, investigate, and if found culpable, prosecute Yunusa-Ari over the alleged electoral violation.

Upon receipt of the letter IGP  Usman Alkali Baba promptly asked his investigative team to work in collaboration with INEC on the matter.

The result was that Yunusa-Ari was fished out from his hiding place and is expected to have a date with the law of the land to prove his innocence or face the fury of the law.

It is the State Returning Officer that is invested with the power, going by the provision of the Electoral Act to make the declaration of the winner of the election and not Yunusa Ari, who is the Returning Electoral Commissioner.

He simply usurped the power of the State Returning Officer to do his hatchet job.

Going by reports, Yunusa Ari sneaked in to announce the result at 9:00 a.m after deceiving other stakeholders to reconvene by 11:00 a.m.

Interestingly, Yunusa Ari acted under the protection of the police who ought to know that he was doing a dirty job. But in their usual penchant, they played along knowing the benefit at stake if they succeed.

Although the Commissioner of Police in charge of election duty in Adamawa State, Mohammed Barde was removed, most Nigerians do not think such redeployment was a commensurate punishment for what happened in Adamawa under his surveillance during the poll.

Yunusa Ari said he declared Binani winner due to security pressure, explaining further that he acted within the ambit of the law, and as such has no regrets for his action.

According to him, the results to be announced by the INEC Collation Officer differed from the copies he signed and uploaded on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.

Political commentators have continued to wonder why such justification was a reason to usurp the job of the State Returning Officer, even when the collation of results was still ongoing.

Such a lame excuse they argued was off point.

There is an African adage that when a bird is dancing on the road there is someone playing the melody in the bush.

It is those behind the scene that must be uncovered as observers say Yunusa Ari could not have acted alone.

When he was confronted by the situation he claimed that made him act the way he did, why did Yunusa Ari, a lawyer, not reached out to INEC to report the situation?

Why did he go into hiding after INEC invalidated his announcement and he was asked to report at the headquarters?

The reason is simple: The guilty are always afraid and people that have no business being in leadership positions are finding themselves there and they are running down the country, destroying values and morals.

Yunusa Ari knew too well that truth is not relevant here, but victory is. It is victory that matters because after the declaration it may be impossible to retrieve the mandate knowing the level of compromise and decay in the judicial system.

The Adamawa mess,  according to commentators, remains a case that needs to be critically looked at. But it should not call for an opportunity to stereotype the women due to Binani’s incongruity.

Of course, there may be mistakes, but we should look at the positive path and see how we can support women into leadership roles rather than using one situation to stereotype them and push them to the back burner, which will completely be unfair.

Women, no doubt, are part of nation-building; they deserve a seat at the table as partners in nation-building and should be taken on their merits.

In the last few years, Nigerians have been pulled further apart by the rhetoric of hate and suppression fuelled by religious intolerance and ethnic crises.

They have been pushed to a breaking point where resilience and the Nigerian spirit no longer count as there is a trust deficit among those expected to provide leadership.

It is this kind of environment that would breed the kinds of unashamed Yunusa Ari who would commit crime and have no regrets.

In a country where criminals, who kill helpless citizens are given state fortification, where justice is sold to the highest bidder and the judiciary negotiates justice, where leaders are insensitive to and unperturbed to the plight of citizens, and where government’s perceived inaction and outright deception create ill-feeling amongst its citizens, the people are unlikely to find joy from its leadership.

Consequently, the report of Yunusa Ari’s misdemeanor is not surprising for it reflects the true state of affairs of the rascality and unruliness of those in positions of authority in the country.

It is obvious that the over-arching reason for such recklessness is the failure of consequences. Continue Reading…