Supreme Court affirms Lawal-Dare as PDP governorship candidate in Zamfara

The Supreme Court on Monday affirmed the nomination of Dauda Lawal-Dare as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in this weekend’s governorship election in Zamfara State.

The apex court delivered the ruling in an appeal filed by the PDP governorship aspirant in the state, Ibrahim Gusau.

Gusau was challenging the January 6 ruling of the Court of Appeal, Sokoto, which upheld the second primary election that produced Lawal-Dare as the PDP candidate in the state.

The Federal High Court, Gusau, had in June last year nullified the party’s first governorship primary held on May 25, 2022, and ordered a fresh election.

The court also nullified the results of the second primary held on September 23, 2022, for widespread irregularities.

Dissatisfied by the ruling, Lawal-Dare and PDP leaders in the state approached the appellate court to set it aside.

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The appeal court duly obliged and in its ruling on January 6, upheld the second primary election and declared the plaintiff as the PDP governorship candidate in Zamfara.

The ruling was challenged by Gusau at the Supreme Court.

At Monday’s proceeding, a five-member panel of the apex court dismissed Gusau’s appeal for lack of merit.

Justice Adamu Jauro, who delivered the lead judgement, declared that Lawal-Dare was lawfully nominated by the PDP as its governorship candidate in Zamfara.

He added that Federal High Court which nullified the primary elections twice had no jurisdiction to adjudicate the case filed by Gusau.

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