Appeal Court Nullifies Zamfara North APC Senatorial Primary

When an appeal court nullifies a senatorial primary, it cancels the party’s nomination exercise. The court treats the process as invalid, so its result and declared winner cannot stand. This matters because a party must follow its own rules and the Electoral Act when choosing a candidate.

In this case, the Court of Appeal in Sokoto upheld the Federal High Court’s earlier decision. It found serious irregularities in the APC primary for Zamfara North Senatorial District. The party declared Senator Sahabi Ya’u the winner, even though the court found evidence of over-voting and other violations.

The judgment resolved all seven appeal issues against Ya’u. It also rejected objections about jurisdiction and timing. The article does not state whether the APC must conduct a fresh primary or name another candidate. It establishes that the disputed primary and its declaration were void.

The APC primary was invalidated because it failed to meet the party’s own guidelines and the Electoral Act. The court identified clear over-voting and irregularities in the figures presented by the party. It also criticised the party for declaring a winner despite those visible discrepancies.

The strongest example involved the electorate’s size. Zamfara North had 26,000 registered APC members, but the party’s figures showed 70,000 votes for an aspirant. That meant the reported votes exceeded registered party membership by 44,000. The court treated this mismatch as evidence that the exercise lacked basic integrity.

The court also held that the party violated its constitution. Justice Tunde Oyebamiji Awotoye said the violations made the entire primary invalid and liable to nullification. The judgment therefore rested on both numerical irregularities and broader non-compliance with party rules and electoral law.

The reported voting discrepancy was 44,000. The district had 26,000 registered APC members, yet the party’s figures showed 70,000 votes for an aspirant. Subtracting 26,000 from 70,000 produces the gap that troubled the court.

The scale was also striking in proportional terms. Seventy thousand votes were about 2.7 times the number of registered APC members. The court used this mismatch as evidence of over-voting, not as a minor counting error. It questioned how the district could produce more votes than its recorded membership.

That discrepancy helped make the whole primary vulnerable to cancellation. The court said the figures revealed clear irregularities and failed basic integrity tests. It also criticised APC leaders for declaring Senator Sahabi Ya’u the winner despite the figures. The article does not provide a separate breakdown of votes for individual aspirants.

The central political figures were Senator Sahabi Ya’u and Hon. Abdullahi Shinkafi. Ya’u was declared the APC winner of the Zamfara North senatorial primary and became the appellant in the court proceedings. Shinkafi was the respondent who challenged the primary and sought to overturn the declaration.

Justice Tunde Oyebamiji Awotoye delivered the Court of Appeal judgment in Sokoto. He upheld the Federal High Court’s earlier decision and ruled against Ya’u on all seven issues in the appeal. Popoola, SAN, represented the appellant and raised objections about jurisdiction and the filing deadline.

Bello Galadi was counsel to Shinkafi. He described the decision as a victory for the rule of law and democracy. Shinkafi thanked the judiciary and called the judgment freedom from political captivity. He also linked the case to concerns about prolonged political dominance in the district.

A nullified primary no longer provides a valid result for the party. The court’s decision means the APC’s Zamfara North exercise was treated as void, rather than as a valid contest producing a recognised winner. The declaration of Senator Sahabi Ya’u was therefore undermined by the judgment.

The court found that the entire exercise was invalid because of over-voting, irregular figures, and breaches of the APC constitution, party guidelines, and Electoral Act. It specifically criticised the party for declaring Ya’u the winner despite the discrepancies. The Court of Appeal resolved all seven appeal issues against him.

The immediate established consequence is that the disputed primary and its result cannot stand as valid under the judgment. The article does not say that a rerun was ordered, that another aspirant was installed, or that the APC selected a replacement. Any next nomination step is therefore not stated in the source.

The court considered the case properly filed because the respondent had first used the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms. This addressed the appellant’s objection that the court lacked jurisdiction. The court found that Shinkafi had completed the required internal process before seeking judicial relief.

The appellant’s counsel, Popoola, SAN, also argued that the case was statute-barred. The Court of Appeal rejected that argument. It held that the suit was filed within the legally allowed period and had been properly entertained on its merits.

These rulings allowed the court to examine the primary itself. After doing so, it upheld the earlier Federal High Court decision and found over-voting and other irregularities. The court therefore rejected both procedural objections: one about exhausting internal party remedies and jurisdiction, and another about the filing deadline. The appeal failed on all seven issues.

A political party primary is an internal contest used to select the person a party will put forward for an elective office. Party members or delegates take part, depending on the party’s rules. A general election is different: it is the public contest in which voters choose among candidates presented by parties and others.

The article concerns the APC primary for Zamfara North Senatorial District. The party declared Senator Sahabi Ya’u its winner, but the court found that the process breached party guidelines and the Electoral Act. It also found a major mismatch between 26,000 registered APC members and 70,000 reported votes.

Because the primary was nullified, the article establishes that the internal selection exercise was invalid. It does not describe the later general election, identify its date, or state what the APC must do next. In general, however, a valid primary normally precedes a party’s participation in the general election.