Politics
How PDP Emerged Victorious In Zamfara
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last governorship election in Zamfara State, Dr. Bello Mohammed Matawalle, as winner of the polls, following Friday’s judgment of the Supreme Court which voided the votes of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a related development, the Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar, yesterday, said his administration and APC members in the State have accepted the verdict of the Supreme Court.
After several hours of deliberating on the court judgment between Friday and Saturday, INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, told journalists Saturday evening in Abuja that the Commission was bound to obey the judgment of the apex court.
According to him, following the judgment of the Supreme Court, the Commission has met in two emergency sessions and taken briefings from its lawyers and staff on the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment.
Yakubu said while the legislative elections (Senatorial, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly elections) are straight forward to deal with because they entail “first-past-the-post or simple majority of votes, the governorship election is determined not just by majority votes but also by spread in accordance with Section 179 (2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended)”.
He said this means that INEC had to first discountenance the votes cast for the APC at the elections and then carefully rework the spread by Local Government Areas based on the new valid votes.
He recalled that the Commission had issued the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2019 general elections on January 9, 2018, over one year in advance.
Among other activities, the conduct of party primaries was scheduled to take place between August 18 and October 7, 2018, he added.
“Unfortunately, the APC did not conduct its primaries in Zamfara State within this stipulated time and the Commission duly informed the party that it would not be in a position to present candidates for elections in the State. Subsequently, various interested parties, including the APC itself, approached the court over the decision of the Commission.
“Just before the election, the subsisting court judgment at the time ordered the Commission to include the APC on the ballot for the Governorship, National Assembly and State Assembly elections, which the Commission complied with.
“However, since the elections were completed, a Court of Appeal judgment and now a Supreme Court judgment have determined that the APC did not conduct valid primaries for the elections in question. In its judgment delivered on 24th May 2019, the Supreme Court, having determined that the APC did not conduct valid primaries, said that the votes cast for the party in all the elections in question were ‘wasted’ and ordered the Commission to recognize the runners-up as the winners. This judgment affects the positions of Governor and Deputy-Governor, three Senatorial, seven Federal and twenty-four State Assembly Constituencies”, he stated.
In compliance with the Supreme Court judgment, the Commission returned the PDP governorship candidate, Bello Mohammed Matawalle and his running mate, Mahdi Aliyu Gusau, as Governor-elect and Deputy Governor-elect respectively.
It also returned the three senatorial candidates and seven House of Representatives candidates of the PDP as duly elected.
While INEC returned 23 of the 24 PDP House of Assembly candidates as elected, it however declared the candidate of the National Rescue Movement NRM, Kabiru Hashimu, as winner for Maru South state Constituency.
Yakubu said the Commission will issue Certificates of Return to the new winners as follows: “Governor and Deputy Governor-elect, Senators-elect and Members of the House of Representatives-elect will receive their certificates today, May 27, 2019 at the Commission’s Electoral Institute at 2.00pm.
“Members of the State House of Assembly-elect will receive their certificates from the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Zamfara State at the INEC State Office in Gusau on Friday May 31, 2019 at 10.00am”.
The Senate yesterday received the 2026-2028 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper from President Bola Tinubu, marking the formal launch of the 2026 federal budget cycle.
In a letter addressed to the upper chamber, Tinubu said the submission complies with statutory requirements and sets out the fiscal parameters that will guide the preparation of the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
He explained that the MTEF/FSP outlines the macroeconomic assumptions, revenue projections, and spending priorities that will shape Nigeria’s fiscal direction over the next three years.
The letter was read during plenary by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North), who urged lawmakers to expedite consideration of the document.
“It is with pleasure that I forward the 2026 to 2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper for the kind consideration and approval of the Senate.
“The 2026 to 2028 MTEF and FSP were approved during the Federal Executive Council meeting of December 3, 2025, and the 2026 budget of the Federal Government will be prepared based on the parameters and fiscal assumptions therein,” the President stated.
Last week, the Federal Executive Council approved the fiscal projections, pegging the oil benchmark price at $64.85 per barrel and adopting a budget exchange rate of ?1,512/$1 for 2026—figures expected to significantly shape revenue forecasts and expenditure planning.
After reading the President’s letter, Jibrin referred the document to the Senate Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), with a directive to submit its report by Wednesday, December 17.
The Senate adjourned shortly after to allow committees to commence scrutiny of the fiscal framework and continue the ongoing screening of ambassadorial nominees.
Tinubu’s communication to the Senate came less than 24 hours after he transmitted the same MTEF/FSP documents to the leadership of the House of Representatives.
The letter was read on the House floor by the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, who also urged timely legislative action as required by law.
The MTEF and FSP are statutory instruments mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility Act and serve as the blueprint for Nigeria’s annual budgets.
They outline the government’s fiscal stance, macroeconomic assumptions, revenue frameworks, projected deficits, and sectoral priorities over a three-year period.
The Tide reports that approval by the National Assembly is a prerequisite for the executive to present the Appropriation Bill for the next fiscal year.
In a statement on Saturday, the former Senate Leader stated that the allocation of nominees across states and geopolitical zones falls short of the constitutional requirement for fair representation in the composition of the Federal Government.
The ex-Senate Whip warned that allowing the list to pass could deepen ethnic suspicion at a time when the administration should be consolidating national unity.
He highlighted disparities in the spread of nominees, noting that while some states have three or four slots, others have none. He also cited the inclusion of Senator Adamu Garba Talba from Yobe, who reportedly died in July.
“The entire North-East states have seven nominees in the list. Further checks revealed that the South-West geo-political zone has 15 nominees, while North-West and South-East have 13 and 9, respectively.
“North-Central region has 10 nominees in the list of career and non-career ambassadorial nominee while South-South parades 12 nominees,” Senator Ndume said.
According to him, such imbalances could heighten tensions and undermine Section 14(3) of the Constitution.
“My sincere appeal to President Tinubu is to withdraw this list. At this critical juncture in his administration, he should avoid missteps that could undermine national unity and foster ethnic distrust.
“I know him to be a cosmopolitan leader who is at home with every segment and stakeholder in the country. He should withdraw that list and present a fresh set of nominees that will align with the spirit of the Constitution on the Federal Character Principle,” Senator Ndume added.
He accused the legislators of undermining the sanctity of the legislature and acting as instruments of destabilization.
“The members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have, by their actions since they assumed office, shown that they are political puppets and a clog in the wheels of democratic progress,” Comrade Ememobong stated, adding that “They will go down in history as enemies of democracy and those who made mockery of the legislature.”
“So the easiest way to describe their action is a defection from APC to APC,” he said.
Comrade Ememobong announced that the party would deploy constitutional provisions to reclaim its mandate from those who have “ignobly and surreptitiously” abandoned the platform on which they were elected.
“Consequently, the PDP will take legal steps to activate the provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 as amended) to recover the mandate gained under the banner of our party which these people have now switched to another platform,” he said.
He urged party members in Rivers State to remain calm and steadfast.
“We urge all party members in Rivers State to remain faithful and resolute, as efforts are underway to rebuild the party along the path of inclusiveness, fairness and equity,” Comrade Ememobong assured.
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