INEC Reacts To Supreme Court Judgement On Zamfara APC

The electoral commission, INEC, has reacted to a Supreme Court ruling which invalidated the victories of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State.
PREMIER NEWSPAPER reported how the Supreme Court ruled that the APC did not conduct valid primaries in Zamfara. The court nullified the APC’s victory in the legislative and governorship elections in Zamfara and said candidates of other parties who came second in the elections should be declared winners.
In its reaction, INEC said it held an “emergency meeting to consider the court’s decision.”
The electoral commission said it will take a final decision on the matter on Monday.
“Following the Supreme Court’s judgment delivered today 24th May 2019 on the Governorship, National and State Assembly elections held in Zamfara State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) held an emergency meeting to consider the court’s decision.
“The Supreme Court ruled that the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not hold valid party primaries as required by law. It held that all the votes scored by the APC in the said elections are wasted votes and declared that the candidates of political parties with the second highest valid votes and the requisite spread should be declared as having been elected.
“The Commission will meet again tomorrow Saturday 25th May 2019 to further deliberate on the issues arising from the said judgment, while the final decision on the matter will be communicated to the public on Monday 27th May 2019,” the commission wrote in its Friday statement.
The Ruling
The Supreme Court validated the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Sokoto Division, which ruled that no valid primaries were conducted by the APC in Zamfara State.
The court in a unanimous judgement by a five-member panel on Friday decided that a party that had no valid candidate cannot be said to have emerged winner of the recently conducted general elections.
In an appeal brought by the APC, the apex court ruled against the apellant and ordered a fine of N10 million against the APC.
The case challenging the APC’s primaries was first brought by some aggrieved aspirants led by a senator, Kabiru Marafa.