Nigeria: Tribunal Set to Deliver Judgement On Petition of Ex-Zamfara Gov Matawalle

The Zamfara State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Sokoto is set to deliver its verdict on the petition filed by the former governor of the state, Bello Matawalle challenging the validity of the election that brought in Dauda Lawal as the governor of the state.

The Zamfara Tribunal had earlier fixed the Judgement for today Monday 18th September 2023.

Recall that Matawalle, who is now Minister of State for Defence, had accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of subverting his victory at the polls, for failure to include the results of some ward areas, which if added, will give him victory with a wide margin.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State said the party is confident of victory at the tribunal having provided enough evidence at the court.

APC spokesperson in Zamfara State, Yusuf Idris, in an interview with Channels Television on Sunday, said the party is hoping to reclaim “its stolen mandate.”

Idris said Matawalle was rigged out by some forces at the national level because of his involvement in the fight against the new naira notes design and his support for the then-presidential candidate of the party, Bola Tinubu.

He stated, “We are hoping to reclaim our stolen mandate tomorrow, as we all know, we were rigged out during the election by some cabals of the past Federal Government, they used some unpatriotic soldiers to rig the election.

“We provided enough evidence at the tribunal and Insha Allah we will be victorious.”

He called on the members and supporters of the party to remain calm and be law-abiding before, during and after the court judgement.

The acting Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Zamfara State, Mouktar Lugga said the party is highly confident of victory at the tribunal.

Lugga the party is confident that the tribunal will be just and fair and the voice of the people will be heard.

He appealed to the people of the state to be patient and not to over-celebrate as they anticipate victory on Monday.

“I called on our people to be patient and not over-celebrate as we anticipate victory, they should not take laws into their hands, we know PDP is peace loving party, they should not do anything that will go against the law,” he said.