THE Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Thursday, November 16, declared the Zamfara state governorship election inconclusive against the state election petitions tribunal ruling.

The court also ordered a re-run in three local government areas (LGAs). The LGAs are Maradun, Birnin-Magaji, and Bukyun.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Bello Lawal, the winner of the March 18 governorship election in the state.

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Following his victory, the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate in the election, Bello Matawalle, contested the election results at the state governorship election petitions tribunal.

However, the tribunal upheld Lawal’s victory and dismissed Matawalle’s petition. It also imposed a N500,000 fine on the petitioner.

Subsequently, Matawalle, the incumbent governor defeated by Lawal, pursued the case at the Appeal Court in another attempt to upturn Lawal’s victory.

In its judgment on Thursday, the three-member panel of the Appeal Court held that the tribunal failed to adequately consider the evidence presented by the appellants – the APC.

The court also said it was wrong for INEC to rely on information it obtained from its IReV portal to collate the final result of the governorship election.

The court further dismissed the results provided by the APC and INEC for Maradun LGA.

On August 17, The ICIR reported that President Bola Tinubu appointed Matawalle as the Minister of State for Defence.

Zamfara is among Nigerian states worst hit by insecurity. The menace began under Matawalle and it has continued under Lawal’s watch.

Mustapha USMAN

Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M