Why Nigeria Cannot Have Accountable Leaders – Gov Fintiri

Governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, has disclosed why having accountable leaders in Nigeria has been difficult.

Governor Fintiri said citizens are not allowed to choose their leaders through the ballot. He argued that as long as Nigerians are not allowed to choose their leaders through the ballot, getting accountable leaders would remain a dream.

Fintiri stated this on Wednesday on his X handle.

In the brief statement,  Fintiri wrote, “So long as you don’t allow the people to choose their leaders, you can’t get leaders who are accountable to the people.”

Naija News reported that the Governor of Adamawa State, who led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders to last Saturday’s governorship election in Edo State, accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of manipulating votes to give victory to the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Monday Okpebholo.

Governor Fintiri, on Sunday, in a statement on his X handle, explained that results available to him showed the PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo, was rigged out of last Saturday’s governorship election.

“I weep for Nigeria’s democracy after witnessing the shameful Edo Gubernatorial poll. The APC’s desperate attempts to discredit me by falsely claiming I announced results won’t distract from the real issue. I merely shared results from INEC’s Irev portal, as collated by INEC from the various Local Government Areas.

“What’s truly shameful is APC’s national chairman flying into Edo with a private jet on election day, defying movement restrictions, while their Governors used armoured escorts to intimidate voters.

“This blatant disregard for democratic norms is the real brigandage. Nigerians are outraged, slamming INEC for compromising and favouring APC. The reported vote-buying, disruption of collation processes, and suspicious results with more votes than accredited voters undermine trust in our democracy.

“Democracy indeed is under attack. We must condemn this rape of democracy and demand accountability. The world is watching, and Nigeria deserves better,” Fintiri wrote on his X handle.