The Supreme Court Friday ruled that the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mukhtar Idris, would not be succeeding Governor Abdulaziz Yari for the next four years.
The apex court ruled that the APC did not conduct valid primaries in the build up to the 2019 general elections in Zamfara state and, therefore, held that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Alhaji Bello Muhammad Matawalle Maradun, is the governor-elect.
The apex court also validated the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Sokoto Division, which ruled that no valid primaries were conducted by the APC in the state.
The court in a unanimous judgement by a five-member panel decided that a party that had no valid candidate “cannot be said to have emerged winner” of the recently conducted general elections.
In an appeal brought by the APC, the apex court ruled against the appellant and ordered a fine of N10 million against the APC.
“Candidate other than the first appellant with the highest vote stands elected. A cost of N10 million is awarded against the appellant,” the court ruled.
Blueprint recalls that the candidate of the APC, Mukhtar Idris, was declared winner of the elections after he polled 534,541 votes amidst controversies trailing his candidacy.
The PDP candidate was said to have come second in the election could, therefore, be declared the governor-elect.
The ruling also affects all APC Zamfara House of Assembly candidates who were initially declared winners of their elections.
Blueprint Weekend reports that following the appellate court ruling, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had withheld certificates of return of the governor-elect, Mukhtar Idris, and those of the lawmakers-elect.
But the APC, in a letter to the electoral body, said the Court of Appeal did not nullify its primary elections.
Reacting, in a statement, INEC’s director of voter education, Festus Okoye, had said the commission was law-abiding and not in the habit of disobeying court orders.
INEC stated that it was not interested in which party emerged victorious, but the process that led to the emergence of the winners.
In a reaction, a national vice-chairman of the party in the South-south, Hilliard Eta, has said it was “a sad day for the APC.”
He stated this through a phone chat with our correspondent, stressing that, “It’s a sad day for every member of the APC. It’s a very sad day for us.”
“The issue of internal democracy is a serious problem in our country, but it is work in progress. We have made a lot of strides in the party. We don’t have any option than to accept the judgement of the Supreme Court and go ahead and learn some lessons from it. That is what I can say for now,” he said.
INEC’s emergency meeting
Meanwhile, INEC has said it would meet today (Saturday) to deliberate on issues arising from the Supreme Court judgement.
A statement issued Friday by the national commissioner and chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, stated that the final outcome of its meeting on the issue would be made known to the members of the public on Monday.
The statement read: “Following the Supreme Court’s judgement delivered today, May 24, 2019, on the Governorship, National and State Assembly elections held in Zamfara state, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) held an emergency meeting to consider the court’s decision.
“The Supreme Court ruled that the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not hold valid party primaries as required by law. It held that all the votes scored by the APC in the said elections are wasted votes and declared that the candidates of political parties with the second highest valid votes and the requisite spread should be declared as having been elected.
“The commission will meet again tomorrow, Saturday, May 25, 2019, to further deliberate on the issues arising from the said judgement, while the final decision on the matter will be communicated to the public on Monday, May 27, 2019.”
Matawalle speaks
Speaking in a reaction to the ruling, Matawallen enjoined the people of the state and supporters of the party to remain law-abiding while celebrating the victory.
This was contained in a statement issued to newsmen in Gusau by his media aide, Malam Umar Muhammad Maradun.
The statement read in part: “The Zamfara state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the office of the governor-elect, Alhaji Bello Muhammad Matawallen Maradun, wish to congratulate the people of the state over the attainment of a great feat in the history our state.
“We at the Matawalle campaign organization wish to extend our gratitude to the Almighty Allah and the entire people of Zamfara state, especially the PDP supporters, for their patience and good conduct while the court judgement lasted.”
The governor-elect then thanked all that prayed or supported his course in one way or the other and promised to make a statewide broadcast at the appropriate time.
