The petition that the All Progressive Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate, Bello Matawalle, brought against the state governor, Dauda Lawal, was dismissed by the Zamfara Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on Monday.

The petition was denied because it lacked merit and the petitioners were unable to meet the legal burden of proof, according to the Tribunal’s chairperson, Justice Cordelia Ogadi, who was joined by two other members.

The tribunal found that the petitioners’ claims of violations during the elections were similarly unfounded, and it awarded each of the three respondents N500,000 in costs that the petitioners must pay.

The respondents to the petition are; Lawal, his party, Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Matawalle, the immediate past governor of the state and his party, APC had filed the petition against the respondents contending that the governorship election was marred with irregularities and Lawal did not score the majority of lawful votes.

Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Ogadi held that the petitioners were unable to prove allegations of overvoting and other malpractices, stressing that the burden of proof was solely on the petitioners.

She said that the petitioners were also unable to prove allegations of substantial non-compliance of the poll to the provisions of the electoral act that would affect the overall outcome of its result.

According to her, all the arguments were considered and the case was decided based on the constitutional requirements as well as the provisions of the electoral laws.

She therefore dismissed the petition for lack of merit and awarded the cost against the petitioners.