The Abuja Court of Appeal has invalidated Dauda Lawal’s election as the governor of Zamfara State.
Led by Justice Omoloye Jombo-Ojo, a three-member panel ordered a rerun in three local governments: Birnin Magaji, Bukuyyum, and Maradun.
Justice Sybil Nwaka Gbagi, delivering the lead judgment, criticized the use of IREV by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for result collation, noting the Supreme Court’s ruling that IREV is solely for public viewing, not result collation.
The panel unanimously supported four out of seven issues in the appeal by Bello Matawalle, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate.
The court declared the March 18, 2023, governorship election inconclusive, setting aside Lawal’s return by INEC. The court directed INEC to conduct fresh elections in Maradun Local Government Area and affected polling units in Birnin Magaji and Bukuyyum local government areas.
“I hereby declare that the governorship election of 18th of March, 2023 is inconclusive.
“That the return of the first respondent (Lawal) by the third respondent (INEC) is hereby set aside.
“The third respondent (INEC) is hereby directed to hold fresh elections in Maradun Local Government Area and the affected polling units in Birnin Magaji and Bukuyyum local government areas. This is the judgment of this honourable court,” the court held.
Matawalle and the APC filed the petition after INEC declared Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner with 377,726 votes against Matawalle’s 311,976 votes.
Matawalle who was former governor of Zamfara State and current Minister of State for Defence, argued that the election didn’t occur in many polling units, including 98,506 votes in Maradun left uncounted.
He contended Lawal wasn’t duly elected, and the conduct didn’t comply with the Electoral Act of 2022.
However, the Zamfara State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal dismissed the petition.
Appellate Court Set to Deliver Judgments Today for Kano and Bauchi Governors
The Appellate Court is set to deliver judgments today in the appeals arising from the election petitions tribunal of Kano and Bauchi states.
In Kano, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, his party, the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), and INEC await the court’s ruling on their appeals challenging the decision of the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal that removed the governor. The hearing notice, issued by the appellate court communicated the judgment date to the concerned parties.
On September 20, a three-man panel, led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay, nullified 165,663 of Governor Yusuf’s votes, citing their lack of signatures or stamps by INEC.
This reduced the governor’s votes to 853,939 while Nasir Gawuna, his APC rival, retained 890,705 votes. Discontent with the tribunal’s verdict, Governor Yusuf deemed it “unfair” and “a miscarriage of justice,” prompting his appeal.
Wole Olanipekun (SAN), representing Yusuf, argued at the appeal court for setting aside the tribunal’s judgment. He highlighted the unprecedented nature of an election annulment due to the non-signing of the back of ballot papers.
Olanipekun also pointed out the tribunal’s error in a political party filing a matter without including its candidate, who was declared the winner.
Contrary to this, Akin Olujimi (SAN), counsel for APC, contended that the Appeal Court explicitly stated that the non-signing of ballots constituted electoral malpractice. The appellate court, after the hearing, reserved judgment.
In Bauchi State, the APC and its governorship candidate, former Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, challenged the election petition tribunal’s decision affirming the re-election of Bala Muhammad of the PDP.
Ada Peter
