Appeal Court Reinstates Dauda Lawal as PDP governorship candidate

The Sokoto Division of the Court of Appeal has reinstated Dauda Lawal as the Zamfara State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate.
Previously, a high court in Gusau, Zamfara State, presided over by Justice Aminu Bappa-Aliyu had nullified the primaries that confirmed Dauda Lawal as the PDP governorship candidate and instead ruled that the PDP had no governorship candidate in the state.
But in the latest ruling, the appellate court had on Friday, 06 January, set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court.
All the members of the three-man panel of the Appeal Court in the sitting had concurred with the lead judgment of Justice Muhammad Shu’aibu, who ordered the Independent National Election Commission, INEC, to accept Lawal’s win as the elected governorship candidate of the PDP in Zamfara State for the 2023 general elections.
The panel had additionally said it was inconceivable for the judge of the Federal High Court to decline to accept the INEC primaries report, claiming that it was not certified despite it being made a public document and published on the INEC website.
Meanwhile, in reacting to the recent judgment, Dauda Lawal had termed the Appeal Court’s ruling in Sokoto as a victory for democracy, and the good people of Zamfara State.