INEC: S’court will determine our final action on Zamfara APC candidates

The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) says the supreme court will determine the validity of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary elections in Zamfara state.

The court of appeal sitting in Sokoto had set aside the judgment delivered by the Zamfara high court allowing the APC to field candidates in the 2019 elections.

Following the appellate court ruling,  INEC withheld certificates of return of Mukhtar Shehu, the governor-elect and that of the lawmakers-elect.

But the APC, in a letter to the electoral body,  said the court of appeal did not nullify its primary elections.

Reacting in a statement, Festus Okoye, INEC’s director of voter education, said the commission was law-abiding and not in the habit of disobeying court orders.

INEC said it was not interested in which party emerged victorious but the process that led to the emergence of the winners.

The commission is confident that “the Supreme Court will conclude the hearing of the matter and deliver its judgment before the inuguration of elected members of the national and state assemblies.”

INEC said: “The Independent National Electoral Commission is a law-abiding institution. It is the policy of the commission to obey court orders and court decisions.

“The commission took the decision to exclude the candidates of the All Progressives Congress from the list of nominated candidates on the grounds that the party did not conduct primary elections.

“The party has taken the matter to the Supreme Court and it is only rational and prudent to wait for the decision of the Supreme Court before proceeding. The commission took a cautionary approach in suspending further issuance of certificates of return to the members-elect of the state assembly, the deputy governor-elect and the governor-elect.

“The commission will abide by the decision of the Supreme Court on the matter.

“The commission does not have any interest in who becomes the governor of Zamfara State but is only interested in the processes and procedures leading to the declaration of results and issuance of certificates of return.

“We are confident that the Supreme Court will conclude the hearing of the matter and deliver its judgment before the inuguration of elected members of the national and state assemblies.

“We believe that the people of Zamfara State deserve to know who their governor and representatives are before the terminal date of this regime.”