The Abuja-based Court of Appeal has nullified the March 18 governorship election victory claimed by Dauda Lawal and the Peoples Democratic Party.
Despite the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announcing Lawal as the winner of the election, Bello Matawalle of the All Progressives Congress (APC) contested Lawal’s win.
Initially, the tribunal upheld Lawal’s election, prompting Matawalle, now the Minister of State for Defense, to escalate the case to the Appeal Court.
On Thursday, a panel of three justices annulled Lawal’s victory and directed a rerun of the election in three specific local government areas: Maradun, Birnin Magaji, and Bukuyun.
The Appeal court highlighted that the Zamfara State Election Petitions Tribunal failed to adequately consider the evidence presented by the appellants, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Matawalle.
Additionally, the judges ruled against INEC’s reliance solely on information from its IReV portal for collating the final result of the governorship election, deeming it inappropriate.