The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State has suffered a setback as it candidates cannot run during the forthcoming governorship and house of assembly elections.
The party’s fate was sealed Tuesday by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The electoral body had while releasing the approved lists of candidates for the gubernatorial, state assembly and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) elections excluded Zamfara APC.
Commenting on the issue, INEC’s Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, said the exclusion was in obedience to an order of the court.
“The commission reviewed the situation concerning the All Progressives Congress (APC) fielding candidates for the governorship and state assembly elections in Zamfara State. Commission noted that there are two court judgments on the matter – one from a State high court in Gusau and the other from a Federal High Court in Abuja,” a statement by the commission stated.
“The former judgment clearly said that the APC conducted primaries in Zamfara State, contrary to the position of the commission. On the other hand, the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that the party did not conduct valid primaries and is, therefore, ineligible to field candidates for the elections.
READ ALSO: Nigerians react to Atiku/Obi performance on “The Candidates”
“The Commission would like to reaffirm its commitment to obeying all court judgments, even when it disagrees with them. However, these are two clearly contradictory judgments delivered by two courts of coordinate jurisdiction on the same day.
“Consequently, the Commission had decided to maintain its original position that the party in question did not conduct primaries and, therefore, in line with Section 87 of the Electoral Act 2010(as amended), is not eligible to field candidates for the National Assembly, Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Zamfara State.
INEC said 1066 governorship candidates, 14, 583 state assembly candidates and 806 candidates for the FTC Area Councils will contest elections on March 2.
The commission said it has reviewed all aspects of its preparedness for the elections and expressed satisfaction in its level of preparation.
It said a meeting will be held next week to review the level of preparedness by resident electoral commissioners in the states of the Federation.
