INEC Issues Certificate To PDP Candidates, Today

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has complied with the judgement of the Supreme Court and declared all the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Zamfara State as winners of the 2019 general elections held in the state. This followed an emergency meeting occasioned by the apex court’s judgement.
This is as the leadership of the PDP Sunday congratulated Zamfara State Governor-elect Bello Mohammed Matawalle, the federal and state legislators-elect, and the people of the state. PDP described the victory of its candidates as the triumph of the will of the people over manipulative forces.
In a separate message, the vice presidential candidate of PDP in the 2019 elections, Mr. Peter Obi, urged Matawelle and the others to see their victory as a challenge to work and uplift their state.
Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State said his administration and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state accepted the verdict of the Supreme Court. Yari said the party had done its best to retain power in the state, but as “Allah wanted it, the Supreme Court judgement went the way it happened.” The governor spoke in a statement by his Special Adviser on Public Enlightenment, Media and Communication, Mallam Ibrahim Dosara.
The Supreme Court had in a unanimous judgement by its five-member panel on Friday described as “wasted” all the votes cast for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 elections in Zamfara State. The court said APC failed to conduct primaries in accordance with the party’s rules.
Justice Paul Adamu Galinji, who read the lead judgement, held that all votes cast for the APC were “wasted votes” and declared that all political parties with the second highest votes in the elections and the required spread were automatically elected to the various offices.
The Governor Abdul-Aziz Yari faction of the APC, which emerged after the October 3, 2018 primary of the party, had in the appeal by their lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), asked the apex court to set aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Sokoto, in an appeal by the Kabir Marafa faction of the party challenging the outcome of the primary.
All the candidates fielded by the Yari faction of the party for the governorship, National and State House of Assembly elections, including the APC governorship candidate, Alhaji Mukhtar Shehu, had gone ahead to win the 2019 elections as declared by INEC.