Zamfara Election: Supreme Court Uphold Appellate Court Judgement, Sacks All Elected APC Candidates.

The Supreme Court of Nigeria sitting in Abuja, has upheld the judgement of the Court of Appeal, sacking all candidates elected under the banner of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Zamfara state, during the 2019 general elections. The unanimous decision of the five-man panel of justices, who presided in the judgment, held that the APC in the state, failed to conduct party primaries in accordance with laid down rules. Chairman of the panel, Paul Adamu Galinji, also added that following the apex court decision, all votes cast for the APC are “wasted votes” and as such, all political parties with the second highest votes in the elections are automatically elected to the various positions held by the APC candidate. Similarly, the Supreme Court has tossed the appeal of the Peoples Democratic Party and its governorship candidate, Kolapo Olushola, challenging the victory of incumbent governor, Kayode Fayemi, in the July 2018 state governorship election. The five-man panel of the Apex court led by the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammed, unanimously held that the appeal challenging the outcome of the poll lacked merit, and as such the reason for its dismissal.