From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Governor Dauda Lawal as the validly elected governor of Zamfara State after allowing his appeal as meriterious.
The apex court in a unanimous judgment by Justice Emmanuel Agim restored the judgment of the Zamfara State Governorship election tribunal and set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal for being perverse.
The apex court equally set aside the order of the Court of Appeal ordering rerun in three Local Government Areas of the State, namely; Maradun, Bimin-Magaji, and Bukkuyum.
It held that the Matawalle who filed a petition at the tribunal against the victory of Lawal failed woefully to prove allegations of over-voting, non-accrediction; and non-holding of election.
Justice Agim held that the vital documents needed to prove the above allegations, including BVAS; Forms EC8As; Voters registrar; Forms EC 40G, were not presented before the tribunal.
He equally held that the witnesses called by the petitioner and who testified at the tribunal were not relevant and necessary witnesses as they were not present at the polling units.
Governor Lawal had brought the appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, ordering rerun in three local government areas of the state, namely; Maradun, Birnin-Magaji, and Bukkuyum.
The Appeal Court upturned the ruling of the tribunal which affirmed the declaration of Dauda by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the March 18 governorship election in the state.
Matawalle, who contested under the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) had approached the tribunal, challenging the validity of the election that brought in Dauda Lawal as the governor of the state.
He alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had excluded the result sheet of 98,564 votes in the Maradun Local Government Area, and that the elections were not concluded in some council areas of the state, but a winner was declared.
Lawal, who ran under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) banner, denied the allegations and prayed the tribunal to dismiss the petition for lack of merit. He cited a case of Oyetola versus Ademola, saying that the petitioner failed to prove his case.
The Zamfara State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Sokoto, had earlier dismissed the petition filed by Matawalle and affirmed the election of Lawal as the governor of the state.