The apex court vacated the November 16, 2023 judgement of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, which declared the governorship election that held in the state on March 18, as inconclusive.

It held that Lawal, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, secured the majority of lawful votes and was rightly declared the winner of the gubernatorial contest by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

In the lead judgement that was delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the apex court, described the verdict of the appellate court as “perverse”.

It restored the earlier decision of the Zamfara State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which affirmed Lawal’s election victory.

It will be recalled that INEC had declared that Governor Lawal of the PDP polled a total of 377,726 votes to defeat the immediate past governor of the state and current Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, who scored 311,976 votes