A High Court sitting in Gusau, Zamfara state, on Friday ruled that the governing APC actually conducted primaries in the state and should be allowed to present candidates for the electoral contest.
The court, therefore, directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept candidates from the party for Zamfara states in the forthcoming elections.
INEC had, in October last year, said it would not allow the APC to field candidates in Zamfara because the party failed to conduct primaries before the deadline stipulated.
The party said it conducted primaries which produced current governor Abdulaziz Yari as a senatorial candidate and his commissioner of finance, Shehu Idris, as the governorship candidate, among others.
Blueprint Weekend reports that the judge, Muhammad Shinkafi, who delivered the ruling, said APC conducted primaries elections on October 3 and 7, 2018.
The court also barred the national secretariat of the APC from replacing the names of those who won the primary elections of the party.
In the case with suit number ZMS/GS/52/2018, Sanusi Liman, Dan Alhaji and 37 others vs APC and 143, the plaintiffs had asked the court to compel the APC and INEC to accept the results of the party’s primaries election in the state conducted on October 7, 2018, among others.
However, a Federal High Court in Abuja ruled otherwise, saying INEC acted within its powers by refusing to accept the list of candidates from the Zamfara State chapter of the APC.
The judge, Ijeoma Ojukwu, in a judgement on Friday, said it was not the fault of INEC that the APC failed to conduct a valid primary within the period scheduled by the electoral body.
Mrs. Ojukwu said INEC’s action was intended to curb impunity among political parties and politicians and ensure that rule of law was adhered to.
In a reaction, Governor Abdulaziz Yari said that he believed the two judgements by a state High Court in Gusau and a Federal High Court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were not in conflict.
Speaking with State House correspondents in a short interview Friday, Yari said while the Zamfara judgement “confirms that the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state conducted primaries, the verdict in Abuja simply says it is not possible for APC national headquarters to insist on a consensus candidate for the state without following “due process.”