Tobias Sylvester
The Supreme Court has declared the votes scored by candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State in the 2019 general elections as wasted votes after holding that the party had no candidates in the said elections.
The five-member panel of justices, in a unanimous judgment on Friday, held that the party in the state failed to conduct primaries in accordance with the party rules.
In the lead judgment by Justice Paul Adamu Galinji, the apex court held that all votes cast for the APC as “wasted votes” and declared that all political parties with the second highest votes in the elections and the required spread, are elected to the various elections.
The APC had won the gubernatorial as well as all the national and state assembly seats in Zamfara State, but the joy of those elected was short-lived when the Court of Appeal declared that their party did not conduct valid primaries, a development that induced anxiety in the state as to what would happen as the May 29, 2019, inauguration day inches closer.
