INEC REACTS TO SUP CRT RULING ON APC ZAMFARA

JUST IN: INEC reacts to Supreme Court judgement on Zamfara APC

May 24, 2019Kemi Busari

Zamfara State on map

Related News

Despite sack by appeal court, Zamfara APC candidate attends induction for governors-elect

2019: Courts issue conflicting judgements on APC having candidates in Zamfara

PROFILE: Bello Matawalle: PDP candidate who lost election but could be Zamfara governor

Senator hails court ruling against own party

APC out in Rivers, Zamfara as INEC lists 2019 governorship, state assembly candidates (FULL LIST)

The electoral commission, INEC, has reacted to a Supreme Court ruling which invalidated the victories of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Supreme Court ruled that the APC did not conduct valid primaries in Zamfara. The court nullified the APC’s victory in the legislative and governorship elections in Zamfara and said candidates of other parties who came second in the elections should be declared winners.
In its reaction, INEC said it held an “emergency meeting to consider the court’s decision.”
The electoral commission said it will take a final decision on the matter on Monday.
“Following the Supreme Court’s judgment delivered today 24th May 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 25th May 2019 to further deliberate on the issues arising from the said judgment, while the final decision on the matter will be communicated to the public on Monday 27th May 2019,” the commission wrote in its Friday statement.

The Ruling

The Supreme Court validated the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Sokoto Division, which ruled that no valid primaries were conducted by the APC in Zamfara State.
The court in a unanimous judgement by a five-member panel on Friday 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 apellant and ordered a fine of N10 million against the APC.
The case challenging the APC’s primaries was first brought by some aggrieved aspirants led by a senator, Kabiru Marafa.