Four days ahead of the March 11 governorship election in Zamfara State, the Supreme Court has upheld Dauda Lawal as the genuine Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate.
The Court of Appeal, Sokoto Division had previously voided the ruling of the Federal High Court that had cancelled the primary election of Dauda Lawal-Dare as the PDP governorship candidate in Zamfara State.
A fresh primary election was then ordered, which Lawal-Dare won on September 23rd, 2022 but was later invalidated by the court due to irregularities.
Dauda Lawal-Dare, Adamu Maina-Waziri, the chairman of the PDP primary election committee, and retired Col. Bala Mande filed an appeal at the Appeal Court seeking redress. The suit was brought against Dr Ibrahim Shehu-Gusau, Alhaji Wadatau Madawaki, Hafiz Nahuche, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Justice Abubakar Talba, on behalf of the other judges, delivered a unanimous judgment in favour of the appellants. The court found that the appellants had successfully proven all seven grounds of their appeal. Justice Talba dismissed all preliminary objections to the competency of the appeal, arguing that technical defaults should not supersede judicial provisions.
The court ruled that the trial judge had erred in discounting documents submitted by INEC and had failed to specify the period for conducting the re-run election and notices of participation. Justice Talba held that the trial judge had neglected his legal responsibilities in judicial considerations and in giving all parties a fair hearing.
