The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has nullified the March 18 governorship election won by Dauda Lawal and the People’s Democratic Party.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Lawal winner of the election.
Lawal, of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), was declared the winner of the March 18 governorship election. 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 APC 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.
But in an earlier ruling on September 18, the Zamfara 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.
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An unsatisfied Mattawalle, took the matter to the Court of Appeal in Abuja, to challenge the decision of the lower court.
On Thursday, a three-member panel of justices annulled the victory of Lawal and ordered a rerun of the election in three local government areas.
The affected LGAs are Maradun, Birnin Magaji and Bukuyun.
The Appeal court held that the Zamfara State Election Petitions Tribunal did not consider the evidence provided by the appellants – All Progressives Congress (APC) and Matawalle.
The judges also ruled that it was wrong for INEC to rely solely on information it obtained from its IReV portal, to collate the final result of the governorship election.
