The Federal Government through the Minister of Information and Culture said President Muhammadu Buhari decided not to get involved in the Adamawa State election trouncing in line with his policy of not micro-managing institutions.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who spoke with reporters after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, said it was not in the character of President Buhari to micromanage institutions.
He said he was not aware that a petition was written to the President on the need to take action against the REC.
The minister said: “I don’t think that this government has ever intervened in the way INEC conducts its elections. So, there’s no need for us to intervene. It was an entirely INEC matter and INEC handled it.
It said the President preferred to allow the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to resolve the issues on its seeing that they are the ones saddled with the responsibilities of coordinating and managing any situation arising from any election.
Recall that, Adamawa has been swallowed in political drama and intrigues following the supplementary election held on Saturday.
It all started when the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa-Ari, declared Senator Aisha Dahiru-Ahmed (Binani) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the governorship election while collation was still ongoing.
However, INEC invalidated the announcement and discontinued Yunusa-Ari indefinitely.
Similarly, on Tuesday, the commission instructed the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, to prosecute the REC and advised the appointing authority to sack him.
In the resumption of collation, Ahmadu Fintiri has eventually declared the winner as the governor-elect for a second term.
Parts of the statements read, “The chairman of INEC is in charge of all employees and he’s handling it. So, what do you want the government to do?â€
On whether President Buhari was disappointed with the REC, Mohammed added: “The President does not micromanage any institution.â€