After weeks of political suspense, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State has been declared the winner of the supplementary election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The closely contested election was held last Saturday, with Fintiri emerging as the victor with a total of 430,861 votes, while Senator Aishatu ‘Binani’ Dahiru of the All Progressives Congress (APC) scored 398,788 votes.

However, the road to Fintiri’s victory was filled with twists and turns. After the initial governorship election held on March 18 was declared inconclusive, a supplementary election was scheduled for April 10.

During the collation of votes on Sunday, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa Ari, controversially announced Binani as the winner despite the fact that results had only been declared for 10 of the 20 local government areas (LGAs).

This premature announcement led to outrage among opposition members, who proceeded to assault an INEC national commissioner in the mistaken belief that he was the REC. INEC Chairman, of Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, condemned the violence and called for the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators.

Despite these challenges, Fintiri ultimately emerged victorious in what was undoubtedly a closely-watched election. With the announcement now made, many will be looking to the governor to provide much-needed stability and leadership in the coming months.