Supreme Court Sacks APC Governor-elect, Others In Zamfara

The Supreme Court has declared that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had no candidates in the 2019 general elections in Zamfara state. 

The five-member panel of justices, in a unanimous judgment on Friday, held that the party in the state failed to conduct primaries in accordance with the party rules. 

In the lead judgment by Justice Paul Adamu Galinji, the apex court held that all votes cast for the APC as “wasted votes” and declared that all political parties with the second highest votes in the elections and the required spread, are elected to the various elections. The panel also awarded cost of N10m against APC in favour of the Kabiru Marafa faction of the APC and other respondents in the appeal. The justices sounded a note of warning to politicians 

The implication of the judgement is that the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the March governorship election in the state , Mr. Bello Muhammad Mutawalle, who polled 189,452 votes will be sworn in next week as the state’s governor. 

Also affected by the judgement are Senators Abdulazeez Yari (Zamfara West); Aliyu Ikra Bilbis (Zamfara Central); Kaura Tijjani Yahaya (Zamfara North); seven elected members of the House of Representatives and 24 House of Assembly members. They all belong to the incumbent governor’s camp of the APC. The opposition PDP scored the second highest valid votes in the general elections.