Appeal Court Declares Zamfara Gov’ship Poll Inconclusive, Orders Rerun In Three LGAs

THE Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has nullified the election of Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State and ordered fresh elections in three local government areas of the state.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Lawal, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was declared the winner of the 18 March exercise. In a shocking victory that dislodged then-incumbent Bello Mattawalle of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he polled a total of 377,726 votes.

Mattawalle scored 311,976 votes. The PDP candidate, now serving as the Minister of State for Defence, had accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of subverting his victory at the poll by failing to include the results of some ward areas.

In an earlier judgment delivered on 18 September, the Zamfara State Election Petitions Tribunal held that the petition was devoid of merit. While upholding Lawal’s victory, the tribunal awarded the N500,000 fine against the petitioners.

An unsatisfied Mattawalle, as observers expected, took the matter to the Court of Appeal in Abuja, to challenge the decision of the lower court.

Respite came for Matawalle on Thursday as the three-member panel led by Justice Oyebisi Folayemi, nullified the return of Governor Lawal as the winner of the governorship poll.

Justice Sybil Nwaka who read the lead judgment ordered INEC to conduct a fresh election in three local government areas of the state, where elections had not been held previously or where results from various polling units were not counted.

The affected council areas out of the 14 in the North-Western state are Maradun, Birnin-Magaji, and Bukkuyum.

The court held that it was wrong for INEC to rely on information it obtained from its INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal to collate the final result of the governorship election.

Despite the latest legal twist in the tussle for the Zamfara governorship seat, Lawal is expected to remain the leader of the state until the elections are held.

Eighteen-Eleven Media