(News Investigators)/The Supreme Court on Friday declared that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had no candidates in the 2019 general elections in Zamfara State.
The five-member panel of justices, in a unanimous judgment validated the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Sokoto Division, which held that no valid primaries were conducted by the APC in Zamfara State.
In the lead judgment by Justice Paul Adamu Galinji, the apex court held that all votes cast for the APC in the last general elections are “wasted votes.”
“Candidate other than the first appellant with the highest vote stand elected. A cost of N10 million is awarded against the appellant,” the court ruled.
It would be recalled that the candidate of the APC, Mukhtar Idris, was declared winner of the governorship elections after he polled 534,541 votes.
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who came second in the election would now be declared the governor-elect in the state.
The ruling also affects all APC Zamfara House of Assembly candidates who were initially declared winners of their elections.
It held that all political parties with the second highest votes in the elections and the required spread, are elected to the various elections.
The panel also awarded cost of N10m against APC in favour of the Kabiru Marafa faction of the APC and other respondents in the appeal.
