Guess what? A Federal High Court in Abuja made a decision on Friday about a case involving the suspended Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa-Ari. The court said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Adamawa State, Senator Aisha Binani Dahiru, cannot stop the prosecution of Yunusa-Ari.
Let me give you some background. Hudu Yunusa-Ari illegally announced Binani as the winner of the governorship election. But the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said, “Hold on a minute!” They canceled the declaration and said that the current governor, Umar Fintiri, is still in charge.
Before this decision, the court had given an order to INEC, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the Inspector General of Police. The order said that they should not prosecute Yunusa-Ari. This order was given because Binani wanted the court to decide if INEC could charge Yunusa-Ari while the election tribunal was still going on.
INEC did some investigations and found evidence against Yunusa-Ari. They said that he should be charged with six counts of wrongdoing. So, INEC filed a case against him at the Adamawa State High Court in Yola.
Binani, who is also involved in the case, asked the court to stop the prosecution for now. She wanted INEC to explain why they were charging Yunusa-Ari while the election tribunal was still happening.
But on Friday, the court made its decision. Justice Donatus U. Okorowo said that the previous order to stop the prosecution is no longer valid. He explained that it’s not allowed for someone to go to a different court to stop a case that is already happening in another court. He also said that he doesn’t have the power to control what another court does.
So, in the end, the court agreed with INEC. The case against Yunusa-Ari will continue. The judge said, “This case is struck out.” That means the court is done with it.
