THE Federal High Court sitting in Gusau, Zamfara, has nullified the governorship primary election conducted by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
The presiding judge, Aminu Bappa-Aliyu, ruled that fresh elections be conducted, saying the previous exercise in which Dauda Lawan-Dare emerged as winner was rife with irregularities.
“The court has granted the prayers submitted in this honourable court by the plaintiffs and hereby ruled in their favour. The 109-page judgment will be presented to the counsel of both parties,” Bappa-Aliyu said.
Following the outcome of the primary election the party conducted in May, three aspirants approached the court praying the result should be nullified over non-compliance with the party’s constitution and other irregularities.
The plaintiffs had filed the suit against Lawan-Dare, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the chairman of Zamfara PDP governorship primary election committee, Adamu Maina-Waziri, and the chairman of Zamfara State PDP, retired colonel, Bala Mande.
The Zamfara State legal adviser of the PDP, Bashir Abubakar Masama, told journalists that the party would appeal the judgment.
“The judgment was in favour of the plaintiffs, but we are going to look at the judgment, the record and everything to see the next line of action and I believe we are going to appeal,” Masama said.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.