The Supreme Court has returned Governor Dauda Lawal as the governor of Zamfara state, setting aside, the judgement of the Appeal Court.
A three-member panel of the Appellate Court unanimously annulled the victory of Dauda Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conclude the election in three local government areas of the State in order to determine the eventual winner of the election.
However, Justice Emmanuel Agim in a ruling on Friday, said the allegation of over-voting failed because INEC did not provide the voter register, polling unit officer report, and testimony of people who were present at the polling unit,” the judge says adding that BVAS machines on their own cannot establish electoral malpractices as sufficient evidence was not adduced by the petitioner.
“This court is of the view that the tribunal was right. The judgement of the Court of Appeal was perverse, because the petitioner (Mr Matawalle) failed woefully to prove his allegations,” the judge declared.
