The Court of Appeal in Abuja has overturned the election of Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State, who was declared winner of the March 18 governorship poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Lawal, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had his victory challenged by Bello Matawalle of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who is now the Minister of State for Defence.
The lower tribunal had dismissed Matawalle’s petition and affirmed Lawal’s election, but the appellant approached the higher court to seek redress.
Delivering the judgment on Thursday, a three-man panel of justices held that INEC erred in relying on its INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal to collate the final result of the governorship election.
The court ordered a fresh election in three local government areas of Maradun, Birnin Magaji and Bukuyun, where it found that the IReV portal was not used in accordance with the electoral guidelines.
