Zamfara: INEC meets on Supreme Court judgment

Following the Supreme Court judgment that nullified the mandate of all the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the recent general elections, the management team of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) met yesterday to consider the body’s next line of action.

The electoral umpire could, however, not arrive at a decision and decided to postpone the meeting till today.

The decisions taken at today’s meeting will be made public on Monday, according to the commission.

Today’s meeting is billed to consider the judgment of the Supreme Court and take decisions on the basis of the outcome of the elections earlier held in the state.

The apex Court had ruled yesterday that Zamfara APC did not conduct any party primaries, hence all the votes gathered in the elections were a waste.

The court also ruled that the party that emerged as the runner-up in each of the elections should be declared winner.

The planned meeting of INEC management team was announced yesterday through a press statement signed by Mr.Festus Okoye, a National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee.

Read also: 2019 polls: APC suffers reverses in Zamfara

The statement reads: “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.”