VICTORIOUS GOVERNOR MATAWALLE OF ZAMFARA
The Federal Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has ruled in favour of Governor Muhammad Matawalle. The Governor was dragged before it by one Alhaji Mohammed Takori, Gubernatorial candidate of APDA, a political Party in Zamfara State.
Of the five man panel, four ruled in favor of Governor Matawalle. They determined that the judgement of the Supreme Court was valid and the case was filed behind time. The fifth Judge however dissented on this.
The majority of the judges also ruled the issue of spread challenged by Takori in favor of Governor Bello Muhammad and declared that the INEC decision on this issue was valid.
On the issue of primary elections, the Court ruled that Takori had no valid argument because the issue of primaries are entirely a party affair.
In a statement by the Zamfara State Commissioner of Justice, Nura Zarumi after the judgement, he said the ruling against Matawalle that the case was time valid would be challenged in court at the appropriate time
According to a Press Release by Zailani Bappa, Special Adviser on Media to Governor Matawalle, the victorious Governor “said the verdict was in favour of the masses and that every trumped up challenge against his people’s oriented government would continue to suffer defeat. He promised to double his efforts in ensuring peace justice, development and fair play.”
Conventional wisdom in Zamfara now is that, according to our investigation, people are weary of the incessant litigations and they hope this would bring an end to all legal tussles in order to enable the hardworking Matawalle to face the arduous task of moving the state forward.
