The Independent National
Electoral Commission(INEC) says the supreme court will determine the validity
of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary elections in Zamfara state.
The court of appeal sitting in
Sokoto had set aside the judgment delivered by the Zamfara high court allowing
the APC to field candidates in the 2019 elections.
Following the appellate court
ruling, INEC withheld certificates of
return of Mukhtar Shehu, the governor-elect and that of the lawmakers-elect.
But the APC, in a letter to the
electoral body, said the court of appeal
did not nullify its primary elections.
Reacting in a statement, Festus
Okoye, INEC’s director of voter education, said the commission was law-abiding
and not in the habit of disobeying court orders.
INEC said it was not interested
in which party emerged victorious but the process that led to the emergence of
the winners.
The commission is confident that
“the Supreme Court will conclude the hearing of the matter and deliver its judgment
before the inuguration of elected members of the national and state
assemblies.”
INEC said: “The Independent
National Electoral Commission is a law-abiding institution. It is the policy of
the commission to obey court orders and court decisions.
“The commission took the decision
to exclude the candidates of the All Progressives Congress from the list of
nominated candidates on the grounds that the party did not conduct primary
elections.
“The party has taken the matter
to the Supreme Court and it is only rational and prudent to wait for the
decision of the Supreme Court before proceeding. The commission took a
cautionary approach in suspending further issuance of certificates of return to
the members-elect of the state assembly, the deputy governor-elect and the
governor-elect.
“The commission will abide by the
decision of the Supreme Court on the matter.
“The commission does not have any
interest in who becomes the governor of Zamfara State but is only interested in
the processes and procedures leading to the declaration of results and issuance
of certificates of return.
“We are confident that the
Supreme Court will conclude the hearing of the matter and deliver its judgment
before the inuguration of elected members of the national and state assemblies.
“We believe that the people of
Zamfara State deserve to know who their governor and representatives are before
the terminal date of this regime.”
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