Tribunal affirms Lawal as Zamfara governor

Dauda Lawal's victory in the 2023 governorship election in Zamfara State has been affirmed by the state's election petition tribunal.

The victory of Lawal, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was contested by Bello Matawalle, the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Matawalle challenged Lawal’s victory for lacking in merit.

It, therefore, awarded a N500,000 cost to the petitioner, Matawalle.

The three members of the panel: Justice Cordelia Ogadi, Justice Bello Hassan, and Justice Aliyu Gegele, were unanimous in their judgment.

The chairman of the three-man panel, Justice Cordelia Ogadi read the judgment of the tribunal, which lasted over four hours.

According to the tribunal, the petitioner failed to prove his allegation of wrongful collation of elections results and the election not being conducted in some wards in the State.

On the claim of non-compliance by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with the Electoral Act and corrupt way of conducting the election, the tribunal ruled that Matawalle could not prove his allegation.

NBA