The Zamfara State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has upheld the victory of Dauda Lawal from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the state’s governor.
In a significant decision, the tribunal rejected the petition submitted by Bello Matawalle, the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Matawalle’s petition, which contested Lawal’s victory, was deemed lacking in merit.
Consequently, the tribunal ordered the petitioner, Matawalle, to pay a fine of N500,000 as a cost for his unsuccessful challenge.
The three members of the panel: Justice Cordelia Ogadi, Justice Bello Hassan, and Justice Aliyu Gegele, were unanimous in their judgment.
The chairman of the three-man panel, Justice Cordelia Ogadi read the judgment of the tribunal, which lasted over four hours, Pmnews.ng reports.
According to the tribunal, the petitioner failed to prove his allegation of wrongful collation of elections results and the election not being conducted in some wards in the State.
On the claim of non-compliance by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with the Electoral Act and corrupt way of conducting the election, the tribunal ruled that Matawalle could not prove his allegation.
