The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Zamfara State, Alhaji Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, has asked the state’s Governorship and State House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja to nullify the March 9 governorship election conducted in the state and order for a fresh election without the participation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate Mukhta Shehu Idris.
Shinkafi had in his petition filed before the tribunal on March 29 filed through his Counsel, Ifeanyi Mbaeri, stated that by virtue of Section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution as amended “A person shall be qualified for election to the office of governor of a state if inter alia: he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party to contest the said election.”
He contended that Mukhtar Shehu Idris cited in the suit as the 1st respondent was as at the time of the Zamfara State governorship elections not qualified to contest the election on the ground that he was not a sponsored candidate of a political party and was therefore not qualified for election to the office of the governor of a State.
He said the 2nd respondent, the APC, did not hold any primary election in Zamfara State or special congress wherein the 1st respondent was nominated or sponsored as the governorship candidate of the 2nd respondent for the Zamfara State governorship election that took place on 9th March.
He also said that the purported participation of the 1st respondent as the APC governorship candidate in Zamfara State held on March 9th, 2019 has been rendered a nullity by the judgment of the Court of Appeal Sokoto Division in appeal number CA/S/32/2019 Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa & others v Sanusi Lukman Dan Alhaji &others, delivered on 25th March 2019.
He among others asked the tribunal to direct INEC to conduct fresh governorship elections in Zamfara State within 90 days without the participation of the 1st and 2nd respondents having failed to sponsor a governorship candidate within the time stipulated by law.
