S’court judgement: We’ve beefed up security in Zamfara, say police

The Zamfara police command says it has beefed up security to forestall the breakdown of law and order, following the supreme court judgement on the elections that held in the state.

Mohammed Shehu, the police public relations officer, said the officers were deployed to maintain law and order.

“We have deployed enough officers and men in both uniform and plain clothes in all the major towns to ensure law and order are maintained,” he said.

The appeal was filed by Shehu Idris, the APC governorship candidate, challenging the judgment of a Sokoko appellate court which nullified the ruling party’s primaries in the state.

The court of appeal had set aside the judgment delivered by the Zamfara high court allowing the All Progressives Congress (APC) to field candidates in the 2019 elections.

It had ruled that the high court “failed to evaluate the evidence before reaching the decision.”

Following the appellate court’s ruling, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) withheld certificates of return of the governor-elect and that of the lawmakers-elect.

The party and its candidates then filed an appeal seeking that the appellate court’s ruling is set aside and that their certificates of return be awarded.

But at its sitting on Friday, the supreme court dismissed the appeal and voided all votes cast for the ruling party during the general election in the state, from governorship poll to the state assembly.

The court ordered that the runner-up candidate be sworn in.

According to NAN, the apex court judgement led to jubilation on the streets of major towns in Zamfara.

Bello Matawalle, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is set to become the governor-elect of the state.