After arrest, Adamawa Suspended REC expressed no regret over action

After days in hiding following the Adamawa supplementary election, the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa-Ari, is in police custody, ValidView Network has confirmed.

The police arrested the embattled REC in Abuja on Tuesday, according to the Force spokesman, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi.

Adejobi in a statement released on Tuesday said, “Barrister Ari, who was arrested by the Police Election Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation Team in Abuja on Tuesday 2nd May 2023, is currently in Police custody and is being grilled to ascertain the motives and motivations behind his alleged improper actions during the supplementary elections in Adamawa State.

“In addition, other officials and individuals culpable in the saga are being interrogated by the team.

“The Inspector-General of Police has given clear assurance that every individual involved/indicted in the matter will be apprehended and investigated in line with the provisions of the law for possible prosecution.

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“The Inspector-General of Police has assured of the commitment of the Force to ensuring that justice is served in this case and that all guilty parties are brought to justice.”

The development comes hours after Ari said in a BBC Hausa interview that he would surrender himself to the police two weeks after he went into hiding.

“I will surely turn myself into the police. Before, there was no summon from the police but now there is one. I will soon come out from hiding,” the embattled REC had stated.

The suspended REC had also said he never regretted announcing Aisha ‘Binani’ Dahiru of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the 2023 governorship election in the state.

Ari had courted controversy after the supplementary election in Adamawa on April 15, 2023, when he announced Binani as the winner of the dramatic poll while the collation of results was ongoing.