- The governor-elect of Zamfara state has called on INEC to release his certificate of return
- Mukhtar Idris also called for the release of certificate of return for all Zamfara state House of Assembly members
- Idris urged INEC to abide fully with the provision of section 143 of the electoral act by releasing the certificate of return to Zamfara state governor elect as well as all the state members-elect.
Mukhtar Idris, the governor-elect for the Zamfara state governorship election has asked the Independent National Election Commission, (INEC) to release his certificate of return.
Idris having been declared the winner of the March 9, 2019, governorship election in the state urged INEC to release the certificate of return of all the members of the Zamfara state's House of Assembly.
Having had its inaugural sitting, the tribunal is to begin sitting in the next two weeks in Abuja over the state governorship and House of Assembly election petitions.
The electoral body had withheld the certificate of return of the governor-elect and other members of the state's House of Assembly-elect, following the judgement of the Court of Appeal division in Sokoto state.
However, in a letter to the INEC chairman, Mahmud Yakubu, attached to the notice of appeal filed at the Supreme Court, the governor-elect drew the attention of Professor Yakubu to the notice of appeal.
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Idris through his counsel, Mahmud Magaji, SAN, said: ''It is worthy of note that the purported judgement of the court of appeal, has no any positive of direct order. But, assuming there is even a court order arising from the said judgement, we still have 21 days within which to appeal, thus, putting into abeyance the said judgement until after the laps of the said 21 days."
He however said that with the case at hand, the parties (APC Zamfara) still have 21 days existing side by side with their constitutional right of appeal.
He urged INEC to abide fully with the provision of section 143 of the electoral act by releasing the certificate of return to Zamfara state governor elect as well as all the state members-elect.
''According to the electoral act, section 143(1) states, ''If the election tribunal or the court, as the case may be, determined that if a candidate returned and elected was not validly elected, then, if notice of appeal against that decision is given within 21 days from the date of the decision, the candidate returned as elected shall, notwithstanding the contrary decision of the election tribunal or the court, remain in office pending the determination of the appeal.''
Section 143 of the electoral act also states, ''If the election tribunal or the court, as the case may be, determined that if a candidate returned ad elected the candidate returned as elected shall, notwithstanding the contrary decision of the election tribunal or the court, remain in office within which an appeal may be brought."
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported thatI NEC in Zamfara state has advised aggrieved politicians to seek redress at the Elections Petitions Tribunal.
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The call was made by the commission’s head of voter education and publicity in the state, Garba Galadima in a statement in Gusau on Saturday, March 2.
In its defence, Galadima said the delay experienced in the distribution of sensitive election materials was caused by the late instruction and court order that the APC, which was initially removed from the ballot paper, should be included.
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Source: Legit.ng
