Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Zamfara State has asked the state’s Elections Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja to nullify the governorship elections conducted in the state on March 9 and order a fresh elections without the participation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Mukhta Shehu Idris.
The governorship candidate of APGA, Alhaji Sani Abdulahi Shinkafi in his petition filed before the tribunal on March 29, through his Counsel, Ifeanyi Mbaeri, argued that by virtue of Section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution as amended “a person shall be qualified for election to the office of governor of a state if inter alia: he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party to contest the said election”.
Shinkafi’s counsel further averred that “pursuant to section 87(1) of The Electoral Act 2010 as amended, a political party seeking to sponsor or nominate candidates for elections under this section shall hold primaries for aspirants to all elective positions.
“In other words, by the combined provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended and Electoral Act 2010 as amended, Sponsorship of candidates for elective positions is only through the holding of primaries”.
Zamfara state chapter the APC is having issues with its conduct of party’s primaries with cases involving it’s warring factions still running at the courts.
