The Federal Government says the responsibility to deal with infractions of the Adamawa State Residential Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa Ari, rests solely with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
This comes on the heels of Ari’s recent suspension over his controversial announcement of the supplementary governorship election results in Adamawa as collation was still ongoing.
Among other resolutions, INEC said it would “request the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to draw the attention of the appointing authority to the unwholesome behaviour of the REC for further action.”
But the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, in an interactive session with State House Correspondents, noted that he was not aware that a petition had been written to the President on the need to take action against Ari.
Speaking after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the minister insisted that Ari was an employee of INEC.
However, the minister maintained that the government’s non-reaction was because the President “has never intervened in the way INEC conducts its elections” and consequently does not micromanage any institution of government.
Commenting on his reason for accusing the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, of committing treason, Mohammed stated that if his running mate had allegedly called for insurrection and he did not react, he was “equally guilty as charged”.