Supreme Court Settles Zamfara Governorship Dispute, Declares Governor Dauda Lawal Validly Elected.

Supreme Court Settles Zamfara Governorship Dispute, Declares Governor Dauda Lawal Validly Elected

The Supreme Court has declared Governor Dauda Lawal, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the validly elected Governor of Zamfara state.

The court said the former governor Matawalle failed woefully to establish the allegation of over-voting.

The Governor was declared the winner of the March 18 governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

In a shocking victory that dislodged then-incumbent Bello Matawalle of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he polled a total of 377,726 votes.

Matawalle scored 311,976 votes.

The PDP candidate, now serving as the Minister of State for Defence, had accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of subverting his victory at the poll by failing to include the results of some ward areas.

But in an earlier ruling on September 18, the Zamfara Election Petitions Tribunal held that the petition was devoid of merit. While upholding Lawal’s victory, the tribunal awarded the N500,000 fine against the petitioners.

An unsatisfied Matawalle, as observers expected, took the matter to the Court of Appeal in Abuja, to challenge the decision of the lower court.Respite came for Matawalle on Thursday as the three-member panel led by Justice Oyebisi Folayemi, nullified the return of Governor Lawal as the winner of the Governorship