Appeal Court Declares Zamfara Governorship Election Inconclusive, Orders INEC To Conduct Election In Some LG

By Akinwale Kasali

The hope of Governor Dauda Lawal of remaining in the saddle as the Governor of Zamfara State hangs in the balance. The Court of Appeal on Thursday nullified his victory.

The Court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of Justices, nullified the return of Governor Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the winner of the March 18th, 2023, gubernatorial contest.

It ordered the electoral umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct a fresh election in three Local Government Areas, LGAs, of the state, where elections did not hold previously or where results from various polling units were not counted.

In the lead judgement read by Justice Sybil Nwaka, the court held that it was wrong for INEC to rely on information it obtained from its IReV portal, to collate the final result of the governorship election.

The judgement followed an appeal lodged before the court by the immediate past Governor of the State, Bello Matawalle, who was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the election.

Matawalle had challenged the outcome of the March 18 governorship election at the Tribunal but his petition was dismissed for lacking in merit.

Delivering the judgment on Thursday, the Court of Appeal declared the election as inconclusive and ordered INEC to hold a fresh election in two local governments.