The declaration of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ahmadu Fintiri, as the winner of the Adamawa State governorship election on Thursday sparked jubilation in parts of the state, including Yola and Michika, on Friday.
The Returning Officer for the election, Prof Andrew Haruna, declared Fintiri as the winner of the election, having polled 376,552 votes to defeat Governor Jibrilla Bindow of the All Progressives Congress, who got 336,386 votes.
The March 9 election was declared inconclusive, leading to Thursday’s supplementary poll.
At Michika, Shuwa and Madagali, residents trooped out to celebrate Fintiri’s victory, saying his success at the polls would help the state.
The governor-elect was a former Speaker of the House of Assembly and acting governor of the state after Murtala Nyako was impeached in 2014.
The state chairman of the PDP, Tahir Shehu, said the victory was for Atiku Abubakar who is the party’s candidate for the February 23 presidential election.
In an interview with newsmen in Yola, Shehu said the party’s victory had shown that Atiku was in control of his state.
He said, “Atiku Abubakar is a big beneficiary of this victory in Adamawa State. He is the pillar of this victory because he contributed spiritually and morally to it. Seventy per cent of the victory is for him. The victory we are celebrating today has its root in Atiku.
“This is to show the world that the PDP is Atiku and Atiku is the PDP. He is in control of the state despite all they did to defeat him at home.”
The chairman also said Fintiri won the election because the people wanted the PDP to rule the state.
He also criticised the governorship candidate of the Movement for the Restoration and Defence of Democracy, Eric Theman, for seeking the nullification of the March 9 poll.
“He put Adamawa through a trauma because of the apprehension he created. Any right thinking person will not put a whole society into chaos, but for the maturity of our people, Adamawa would have been in crisis. He should apologise to Adamawa people and Nigeria as a whole.”
An Adamawa State High Court in Yola on Friday threw away a suit instituted by the candidate of the MRDD, Theman, seeking the cancellation of the governorship election in the state.
The judgment was delivered by Justice Abdulazeez Waziri less than a day after the supplementary governorship election was held in the state, with the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Hammadu Fintiri, emerging as governor-elect.
Justice Waziri ruled that the suit lacked enough evidence for the prayers sought to be granted.
Theman, through his counsel, Mustapha Shaba, had challenged the omission of his party’s logo from the ballot paper used by the Independent National Electoral Commission for the first governorship election in the state on March 9.
He therefore prayed the court to cancel the election while calling for a fresh one with his party’s logo on the ballot paper.
Meanwhile, the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku, on Friday congratulated Fintiri on his election as Adamawa State governor.
Atiku, in a statement by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, said he was delighted that the PDP won the governorship election in his home state.