By Ken Afor
After weeks of legal contestation in Zamfara State in the March 18 governorship election in which the incumbent Bello Matawalle of the All Progressives Congress (APC) lost to Dauda Lawal, a candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the election tribunal in the state will on Monday in Sokoto State deliver its judgment on the matter.
The March 18 election in the state which was one of the biggest upsets of the 2023 general elections saw Governor Lawal unseat Matawalle with 377,726 votes against 311,976 votes, being the first time in Zamfara since 1999 that the PDP will be at helm of affairs in the state.
Matawalle was dissatisfied with the outcome of the election and filed a petition accusing the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of subverting his victory at the polls.
He accused INEC of failing to include the results of some ward areas, which if added, will give him victory with a wide margin against Lawal.
While both parties anticipate, the PDP in the state is optimistic that Monday’s judgment will be just in as much as it corresponds with the wish of the people.
The Acting Chairman of the PDP in the state, Mouktar Lugga, appealed to the people to be patient as they await judgment.
“I called on our people to be patient and not over-celebrate as we anticipate victory. They should not take laws into their own hands. We know PDP is a peace loving party. They should not do anything that will go against the law,” Lugga said on Channels Television.
Also, the APC in the state is hoping to reclaim the people’s mandate.
The party alleged that Matawalle who is now the minister of state for defence was rigged out of the election.
The party further alleged that the previous administration of Muhammadu Buhari used some machineries, unpatriotic soldiers to rig the election.
“We are hoping to reclaim our stolen mandate tomorrow, as we all know, we were rigged out during the election by some cabals of the past Federal Government, they used some unpatriotic soldiers to rig the election,” Yusuf Idris, spokesperson of the party in the state was quoted as saying.
He added: “We provided enough evidence at the tribunal and Insha Allah we will be victorious.”
